


The Magician

by Tanagariel



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, F/F, Magic, Romance, cophine - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-27
Updated: 2014-02-22
Packaged: 2018-01-10 06:56:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 55,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1156504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tanagariel/pseuds/Tanagariel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cosima Niehaus is a young illusionist trying to succeed in the magic business. She has worked very hard to succeed, but it has been difficult for her to reach the notoriety she deserves. She needs more help. Fate has been paying attention to what our magician does. So one day the magician will find in her path someone who will bring joy to her life as well as pain. What kind of sick game is destiny playing with this girl? Can she really beat the odds and become the next big thing?. Read to find out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on a dream I had, so sorry if it doesn't make much sense.  
> Big shout out to my beta girl glynnbearboo.tumblr.com  
> Please have an open mind regarding magic tricks and use your imagination to really visualize what the hell is going on, 'cus I don't know much about magic.

Cosima Manning has always been a curious kid since the day she was born. After Sarah, her older sister came into the world kicking and screaming, one minute and a half later Cosima entered the world with a cry of uncertainty, then she would just gaze into her mother’s eyes in understanding. Those tiny hazel eyes were desperate to see clearly the wonders of the world and her little hands would try to absorb as much as she could moving everywhere so she could feel her surroundings. She barely cried, she was observant, always trying to gather understanding from the behavior of others.

  
When the Manning’s turned two their parents divorced; but in this sad event, it seems, destiny had plans for little Cosima, her mother moved to San Francisco, California with her and her father stayed in London with the older twin. San Francisco was a diverse city, with many vivid colors, art, dance, music, education. Living in the coast was probably the best thing that could happen to her. Cosima breathed this city in and out. When her mother took her to the beach for the first time, she looked in awe the immensity of the ocean, the salty smell, the wind hitting in her face, she was savoring like it was the most marvelous feeling in the world. He sand on her feet, the sound of the waves, it was an experience that made her wonder the power of nature.

  
By the age of 3 she would ask questions non-stop to her mother, she read her stories at night and Cosima asked about the decisions of characters or why the princess couldn’t rescue the prince instead. Her mother simply couldn’t satisfy her curiosity anymore, she saw that her little girl needed more stimuli. Every weekend they would go to the zoo, the library or a museum, and Cosima would try to absorb as much as she could.

  
When she turned 8 Cosima was a very nerdy girl, she knew so much yet she wanted to know more, her curiosity leading her to explore and discover new things that kept burning her spirit. Most of her classmates didn’t understand her usual ramblings, so she preferred to keep her thoughts to herself, her way of thinking was light-years ahead of them, therefor she ended being pretty lonely.

  
At nights she skyped with her sister Sarah, who also had a difficult time to understanding what the hell Cosima was talking about, yet she enjoyed every moment with her twin. Sarah was anxious to turn 18 so she could be with her again, they both were tired of traveling for the holidays to each other’s homes, and they wanted to be together for real. They could not be more different, while Cosima was all brains Sarah was all physicality. Cosima was in shock by how many times Sarah was suspended for being in fights with classmates or cursing out loud. Her usual response “they had it coming” which made Cosima grin widely in return. They understood each other, so in tune with one another, it was a bond that no one could get, only them.

  
The moment of revelation finally arrived, Cosima was walking on the street when she saw a guy, he had a coin in his hand, he was playing with it, moving it through his fingers with such ease. That called powerfully her attention. The guy approached a couple that was passing by, he showed them the coin in his hand, after some hands movements the coin was gone, vanished. Where was the coin? “Probably hidden in his pocket”, she thought. The guy emptied his pockets, nothing came out of them. Cosima frowned, she was confused, “Where is the coin?” she wondered. The guy raised his finger, like he knew where it was, he told the man to check his breast pocket “no way” and there he found the coin. Cosima was opened mouthed “How? Just how did he do that?” The guy smiled to the couple who were astounded as well, they said their goodbyes and kept walking way. This moment changed her forever; she wanted to know the how’s but more than anything she was marveled by the reaction of the couple, it was magical.  
After that day she put all her efforts in understanding the ways of magic, more precisely the illusion of magic. She dwelled deeper into practice starting from the simple coin tricks to more complex ones. By the age of 12 Cosima was pretty good with coin tricks and some card tricks. She would go to the beach and practice her skill with whoever was walking around. She watched David Blaine and Chris Angel do their thing; she would learn and apply her knowledge to her own repertoire. She had the necessary skill to be better, even greater than them; she simply had to do her best.

When she turned 18 she was more than adept at doing street magic, marveling kids and adults, she did coin tricks, card tricks, levitation tricks even mind tricks, and she was that good. But this is not a story about how great she would become, no my friend, this is a story of love, of pain and heartbreak, betrayal and maybe redemption. Just wait and you’ll see, how destiny does the most unexpected things, yet they happen for a reason.  
“Bloody hell Cos, what the hell did you do to your hair?” Sarah came with her baggage from the airport terminal.  
“Is that the way you say hello to your sister after all this time?” Cosima greeted her with a huge smile on her face. The twins embraced each other.  
“Seriously what on earth? When was the last time we skyped, last week?” “Yeah, on Thursday” “Oh and you decided to have dreads in less than a week?” “I was already thinking to change my hair Sarah way before we last spoke”  
“Goddamit, and our parents say I’m the wild one just because I dressed like a punk? Shite Cos, you have tattoos, a nose ring and now fucking dreads, this is ridiculous”  
“Oh come on dude, you jealous?” Cosima said teasingly  
“You are a fucking brat, twin. Let me go get a couple of things before we go home yeah?” Sarah left Cosima in the middle of the terminal, Cosima took a seat and grabbed her deck of cards and started shuffling them to keep herself entertained. She was practicing a trick when a kid around 6 years interrupted her “comment vous avez fait?” the kid said “Uhm you said what?” The kid was like hypnotized, therefor, instead of trying to talk to him she was going to show him. She put the cards away and took out a coin.  
“Okay kid, watch” she hold the coin in her left hand and let the kid see where she was placing it and made a fist. She moved her fist over her right hand to pass the coin and made another fist. Now she had both fists in front of the kid so he could select where he thought was the coin, as expected he chose the right hand, when she opened it, the coin wasn’t there, instead she open her left hand and showed where the coin really was.  
“fantastique!” the kid was all smiles “pretty neat huh?” another voice, this time female called their attention. “Antoine que faites-vous? votre mère est en attente.” A blonde girl approached, Cosima gulped, the girl was breathtaking, blond curls, brown eyes, a lot taller than her, probably a little bit older than her, maybe 21. “Oh excuse him, he is a naughty boy” the girl said, with a very sexy accent Cosima thought. “No problem he didn’t bother me at all” “Merci, excuse us we have to go” The girl took by the hand the boy and started to walk away. Cosima stood up to ask for the girl’s name but a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks “Oi Cosima, I’m ready let’s go” “Yeah, just let me-“ when she turned around to look for the girl she was lost among the sea of people in the airport. Cosima sighed, ”Doesn’t matter, let’s go”.

  
When they arrived at Cosima’s place their mother welcomed Sarah with a huge hug and kisses. They sat to have dinner and Sarah shared stories. The twins started to get updated in everything related to the other, their plans and what they were going to do now that Sarah decided to move with them to San Fran. However, Cosima’s mind was somewhere else, she wasn’t 100% into the conversation her mother and her sister were having, her thoughts were solely focused on that girl, the blonde beautiful sexy French girl. Was she ever going to meet someone like her again? she thought, “what were the probabilities to find a cute girl like that?” “What are you mumbling Cos?” “No, nothing keep going” “You are so weird, sis”. They kept talking until it was time for bed.

  
That night it took her some time to sleep, her mind racing with possibilities of seeing that girl again, what if she missed a huge opportunity, what if she never meet anyone like her, “Am I going to end alone?” So many questions without an answer, only endless probabilities, she sighed, she took her glasses off, put them over the night table and closed her eyes, and hopefully she was going to dream with the blonde.  
What Cosima didn’t know was that destiny already dealt its cards, the game was on, and she had to play carefully or else she was going to lose. Little did she know that the same beautiful girl she met that day on the airport was going to be back in her life ten years later, and this time it was going to be a hell of a ride, but that is a story for another day.


	2. Chapter 2

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to another edition of The Mrs. S show, let’s give an applause to your host Siobhaaaaaaaan Saaaadleeeeeeeer!” The announcer called, and in that instant the audience began to clap to welcome the host of the TV show.  
“Hello and good evening, I’m happy to be here with you another week to bring you the best of entertainment. Tonight we have two special guests, the first one is known for her bold acts of magic, the illusionist who levitated over the Golden Gate; I bet you already know who I’m talking about. Our other guest is a Canadian actress who’s been making quite a buzz in the last few weeks for her portrayal of an eccentric woman looking for happiness; let’s welcome Cosima Niehaus and Alison Hendrix!” the crowd applauded with enthusiasm, the screams and shouts of excitement from the fans are heard during the two women’s entrance.  
“Welcome my dears, please sit. So let’s start with you Cosima, what were you thinking while doing the levitation act over the Golden Gate, it seemed quite scary.”  
“Hey Mrs S. Thanks for inviting me! You know, to be a magician you have to believe that the sky’s the limit. I wanted to do something pretty awesome so I decided to do this illusion with the help of my sister Sarah, who was kind of freaked out when I first told her my plan.”  
“Oh, I would be freaked out too,” Alison commented. That brought laughter from the audience.  
“Your sister Sarah Manning is also your personal assistant, right?” Mrs. S asked curiously.  
“Yeah of course, she’s one of the few people I can trust. In the world of magic, secrecy is a huge deal. When I think of new tricks I meet with my team to design and prepare the act properly.”  
“Now, your real surname, Manning. Why did you change it?”  
“Not to disrespect my father, but I needed something catchier. In the end I chose my grandmother’s last name, Niehaus.”  
“Very well. Now Alison, what incredible performances from you.”  
“Thank you, the response has been really amazing.”  
“This character of yours is very conflicted, chicken”  
“Yes, it’s a challenge to portray a woman with so many layers. She’s not a saint, but she isn’t a bad person either, it’s really quite emotional.”  
“She cheats on her husband with his best friend.”  
“Dude, that’s complex.” Cosima said, which prompted more laughter from the audience.  
“Indeed, my character is in a really crappy situation. I think that the beautiful part of this is that she won’t give up on the pursuit of happiness.”  
“What are your plans after you conclude your participation in the play? There are rumors of a movie in the making...”  
“I can’t say anything about that, my agent is the only one who knows what’s really going to happen. I’m returning to Toronto to make a guest appearance on a TV show, but for now that’s all there is.”

  
“Thank you love, that was very interesting, I wish you many great successes, Alison. Now Cosima, will you demonstrate us a little bit of your new act? Demonizer, which you are presenting right now at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco ‘til the end of this month, right?”  
“Yes, of course, I really hope to see all of you there!” She stood up and walked to center stage.  
“All right, Alison, would you like to help me tonight?”  
“Oh, alright.” Alison joined Cosima on center stage. The lights dimmed to set the mood for the audience. The stage looked mysterious and the focus was solely on the two women, the expectations of the audience growing with anticipation.  
“Awesome, let’s give Alison a big round of applause you guys.” The people cheered and clapped in excitement.  
“Okay Alison, there’s nothing to be worried about, you’re going to help me tell a story.” Cosima stood in front of Alison looking straight into her eyes, her hands moving everywhere as she explained. It was as if she was trying to demonstrate with her hands everything that her mouth said.  
“In this story, you’re at a party, okay?” Alison nodded in response “And you’re really stressed out, so you grabbed a drink, one after the other, and you’re a little tipsy...”  
In that moment, Cosima snapped her fingers and forcefully said, “NOW!” Cosima took three steps back and away from Alison.

  
“Alison, how are you feeling?” Cosima asked  
Alison seemed confused. “I don’t know, everything is moving.”  
“Okay, take another drink.” Alison gestured like she was grabbing a glass and drank down the unseen contents of it.  
“What are you drinking?”  
“Wine.”  
“Woah, maybe you need to slow down, and take a deep breath.”  
“I hate yoga.” Alison replied pointedly, and the audience laughed.  
Alison started to giggle as if she were fairly drunk.  
“Dude, do you want to sit, or maybe go take a nap?”  
“Why are you asking me so many goddamn questions!?” More laughs ensued from the audience. Cosima took a few steps closer to Alison again.  
“Alison, when I count to three, you’ll forget all about this crazy party. You’ll feel energized and really happy, okay? On my count, 1, 2, 3!” Cosima snapped her fingers, and Alison blinked in utter confusion.  
“How are you Alison, you okay?”  
“Yes, I feel pretty good actually.”  
“Do you remember anything about what we were talking about?”  
“Just that we were at a party and I was stressed.”  
“Anything else?”  
“No, no I’m waiting for you to tell me...”  
Cosima gave her a huge grin.  
“You’ve been awesome Alison, thank you so much, that’s all!”  
“Well then, that was really impressive. Let’s give them a round of applause, and thank you for coming Alison and Cosima!” Mrs. S turned toward the cameras and said, “Thanks for watching, see you at home see you next week!”

 

 

Cosima said her goodbyes to Alison and Siobhan and thanked Mrs. S for inviting her onto the show. She then went backstage to the dressing room, where she met her sister Sarah.  
“Shite Cos, don’t you think it was too much? I mean, that actress, Alison, looked pretty uptight, and you made her look like a drunk.”  
“That’s why I did it sis. She needed to chill, so I gave her a minute. Hypnosis doesn't transform a person, it merely shows how they really are in those circumstances; I just have to reach their subconscious, no harm done.”  
“Yeah, whatever you say Cos. You and your weird shit. Anyways, Rachel called and told me that the next two upcoming shows are sold out.”  
“Damn, that's super crazy”  
“It is, but who doesn't want to see the insane dreadlocked girl magician who flew over the Golden Gate?” Sarah smiled at her sister in complicity. Like Cosima said in the interview, secrecy was prime in this type of job. It was totally obvious that Sarah knew exactly how the flying occurred.  
“After we finish Demonizer, I want to take it easy before we start designing our next big show. Tell Duncan that I’m open to interviews and small shit, but nothing fancy. I’ll go back to street magic for now, until I get inspired again."  
“My pleasure, I’ll go talk to her tomorrow, yeah?”  
“Why not call her? Jesus, tell me you’re not into her; she is a complete bitch and that’s why she's so efficient.”  
“Relax Cos, I’m not shagging her if that’s what worries you. ”  
"Oh but you want to, don't you?”  
“Shut up”. The sisters picked up their things and headed out.  
They both climbed into the car, Sarah took the wheel and Cosima rode shotgun. The drive home was pretty silent. Cosima was playing with a coin, flicking it about her fingers. It was just a thing she always did when something was on her mind, but Sarah took notice of it immediately.  
“You seem restless Cos, tell me what's on your mind.” Cosima sighed  
“It’s the festival, I really want to participate this year.”  
“Edinburgh? Really? And why do you want to do that now? You've taken part in other festivals, but you never showed interest for the big ones.”  
“Yeah, but I feel that I still need to prove myself Sarah. Being one of the few females in the industry is kinda hard. Besides, I want to be a great live performer, and I still need to work on that. We have so many TV shows and internet specials, however live performance is a completely different thing. I want to be the David Copperfield of live shows, the Penn and Teller of Las Vegas."

  
“We'll get there Cos, we will, it's been really hard, but look how far you’ve come, I mean we're 28, so we still have a lot of work to do sis.”  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, but if I perform an award winning presentation in the magic festival, we could get a proposal for a live show instead of busting our asses to raise money to keep me in the business. It was a miracle that we gathered enough to do our thing at the Castro Theatre.” Cosima leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes.  
“If I do it right, then we won’t have to worry about paying the bills on time ever again Sarah."  
In order to fulfill her dream, Cosima had to make many sacrifices, starting with a very reclusive and lonely life. She shut out all distractions in order to practice and perfect each of her tricks, to have tricks that could open the doors to people with influence. She had started filming an online show with the help of Sarah, and little by little she gained followers. Over those ten years she gained a huge following. Nonetheless, they needed an investor. With the help of fans and friends she started to drop on small shows in San Francisco to start spreading the buzz. Little by little they gathered enough to start buying materials to build and create more complex illusions. Last year she came up with a fantastic idea, to levitate on the Golden Gate and that’s how they were able to pay the rent for the theatre this year.  
They finally arrived home after a long day. The sisters lived in a small apartment close to the Bay Area, and it was here that all the meetings with her team were held. Sarah noticed a red flashing on the phone. “You want coffee?” Cosima asked from the counter in the kitchen. “No, I want to go to sleep early tonight.” Sarah pressed the recording machine to hear all the messages.

  
“Hey there girls, I saw Mrs S. show tonight and you were marvelous Cosima, I love you both.”  
“Mom called, Cos, she saw you." Sarah said.  
“Hello, ehm, this is Scott, I have ready what you asked for Cosima, let me know when you want to check it out, okay, cool, so yeah.”  
“Well thank God, Scott certainly took his time doing the magic boxes." Cosima appeared in the living room with a cup in her hands while Sarah was turned on the TV and sat herself on the couch.  
“Hey there… I guess by the message that indeed this is your number-”  
“Holy shite, you have to be kidding me!” Cosima stood in the living room hearing the message, frozen by the female voice that she had longed for a long time ago.  
“-I’m back in San Francisco, Cosima, I really would like to talk…call me please if it’s the same number.”  
“The hell you're going to call that bitch Cos!”  
Sarah stood up angrily from the couch and quickly deleted all messages from the recording machine. Cosima sat on the couch, the coffee getting cold over the side table. Cosima hunched over her body, cradling her head in her hands. “Cos, tell me you're not thinking on calling her back, she left you!”  
"Yeah, long distance never works, lesson learned Sarah.” Cosima took out her cellphone and started looking into her contacts. “Shit, do you have her number? What the hell Cos?”  
“I just forgot to delete it, she was out of the country anyway, I never thought she would be back!"  
“Don’t call her Cos, you suffered a lot because of her!” Cosima looked her sister, then her phone, and then she pressed the green call button. Sarah moved shook her head in complete denial. “Shite, Cos, you are such a fool," Sarah said before sitting down in front of her sister.  
Cosima waited and waited until the familiar voiced picked up. “Hey, it’s Cosima, I heard your message. What do you want to talk about, Katja?”


	3. Chapter 3

The next day Cosima went to a coffee shop near her apartment, which was where the meeting with Katja Obinger was to be. Katja, her ex girlfriend of a year and a half; Katja, the woman who left her to travel around the world; Katja the German, the one who had told her that she had found other interests and that it was better for them to break up.  
“Why do I have to be such an idiot?” Cosima asked herself. She was walking down the street to get to the coffee shop, and as usual, she was flicking a coin through her fingers to ease her mind, which was racing with millions of questions: Why? Did she ever love me? Am I not good enough? She knew that on the outside she exuded confidence, she was a natural charmer. She could have, like Sarah said, “Any person in the goddamn world!”, yet she was going to meet Katja because she wanted to hear from her that she was worth it, that she wasn’t the problem. For some reason, in terms of love, Cosima was a mess. She was too naïve, too innocent, she would give the relationship her all and in return, her heart would be broken. What she envied about her twin was the fact that Sarah could have a fling and not regret anything later, and could detach herself from relationships so easily. Cosima wanted to be able to do that like Sarah.

Human relationships were too complex for her, and to understand them was the worst for her. She preferred to live in the world of illusions, where magic, no matter how convoluted it was, she could crack it. It wasn't like that with love. She paused at the crosswalk, waiting for the red man to turn green. She was very close now, and her nerves were starting to get to her. Anxiety crept it’s way into her mind. The pedestrian traffic light turned green, and Cosima resumed walking. A couple of stores passed by, and then was there. Cosima pocketed her coin and looked at her watch. As per usual, she was late.  
Once inside the place she searched for Katja, and spotted her in a corner, approaching and greeting her.  
“Hey Katja, long time no see. What’s up?” Cosima sat in front of her, looking at the other woman in front of her. Nothing had changed; she still had her short red hair, though she looked a little more pale than usual. Katja removed her sunglasses and her intense brown eyes stared back at Cosima. The waitress came to see if either of them wanted to order something. Cosima asked for a coffee, Katja ordered tea.

“Sorry for appearing all of a sudden Cosima, I know that things between us didn’t end well.” The thick accent sent small shivers through the entirety of Cosima’s body.  
“Oh really?”  
“Bitte hören Cosima, there was a reason I left, and why I had to cut ties with you!”  
“Please do tell.” She was not about to go through this again. Cosima had to be strong against Katja’s games and tricks. The waiter brought their beverages and left them to continue their conversation.  
“I…I am sick Cosima, very sick.” Cosima frowned, trying to process what she was saying.  
“What!? What do you mean by sick?”  
“I have a respiratory disease, remember my coughing fits?”  
“Yeah, we thought you had a cold!”  
“It is bad, I am getting worse and the treatments so far are not working.”  
Cosima sipped her coffee, trying to warm her insides. Katja was saying some crazy shit, how that was possible? She was denying that explanation, she couldn’t accept that. “Then why are you here, and not in a hospital Katja? If it’s so bad you shouldn’t be here.”  
“You were important to me, I missed you so… I came back for you.”  
Cosima couldn’t believe it. She raised her voice and declared “Bullshit! If I was important to you, you would have let me take care of you! You would have allowed me to be by your side Katja! But no, you disappeared! You didn’t tell me the truth, and I moved on! What do you want me to do?”  
“Forgive me, please, at least let me-“ a coughing fit interrupted Katja. She fumbled in her pocket for a handkerchief, and pressed it to her mouth. Cosima’s eyes widened in horror when she noticed the tainted cloth. “HOLY WATERSHED!” Cosima stood up from her chair in shock. “What the fuck Katja?!” Cosima recoiled away from Katja, completely and totally freaked out.  
“Cosima, please wait, it isn’t contagious! Scheiße!” More coughs followed her exclamation. Cosima sat back down, even more wary of Katja than before. Maybe she was overreacting. Or maybe not, she preferred to be cautious regarding this situation. “Okay, Katja, you need medical attention, obvs. I can’t give you any help, but I can be here for you if that’s what you need. That’s all I can do though, okay?” Katja nodded.   
“Ja, danke Cosima. For now that is enough for me.” Cosima stood up again, dropped 10 bucks on the table and left.  
Her mind was mulling around the news and the implications of Katja’s words. She came back for her. Why? If she was sick, maybe she was dying. What if she was the dying wish of Katja, what if she had a chance to provide comfort for her? “Shit Cosima, why are you thinking about that?! She left, doesn’t matter the reason, she didn’t trust you, period!” She was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn’t notice that the pedestrian light was red, she just kept walking, oblivious of the danger. Suddenly, the screech of car tires echoed about her. Cosima raised her eyeline and looked quickly to her left.  
“Oh shit!” THUD. The car, even though it wasn’t moving fast, still hit her; Cosima bounced over the hood and fell to the ground. CRACK. “Merde!” A female voice in complete panic was heard getting out of the car.

Like John Lennon said, “There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be…” Cosima was in the right place at the right time. Cosima blinked, trying to focus, her eyeglasses nowhere to be seen. She sat up and tried to stand slowly, clutching her head in an attempt to regain clarity and ease the pain of her left hand, which was now twisted at an unnatural angle. “Are you alright?” The female voice asked in concern. Cosima turned her head about to see a tall blonde woman, her accent felt like a sweet caress. “I think this is yours.” The unknown woman handed her the black frames, and she put them on with her good hand. When she saw the woman again, now with her eyesight back to normal, her knees wobbled beneath her. 

“Woah.”  
“Mon dieu, I better take you to the hospital! There’s no time to wait for an ambulance.” The woman grabbed Cosima by her arms to lend support. She helped Cosima get into the passenger seat and drove quickly to the nearest hospital.  
“I am really, really sorry, this is all my fault,” Cosima said to the blonde while the nurse by her side finished plastering her hand.   
“I was distracted, so sorry Miss…”  
“Cormier. Delphine Cormier.” She extended her hand and Cosima shook it happily.  
“Enchantée.” Delphine said.  
“Enchantée.” Cosima responded with a huge grin.   
“You’re French!”  
“Oui, I am here on business.”  
“Cool.” Yes, she couldn’t be wrong. It was her French beauty, the one that she saw in the airport all those years ago. The same young woman who bedazzled her with her sexy voice, with those hypnotic eyes that haunted her dreams every night. Delphine. Even her name was magic.  
Another voice, this time with a British accent, interrupted her thoughts. “Bloody hell Cos, what happened?! Are you okay? What did you do to my sister!?” Sarah pointed accusingly at Delphine.   
“No Sarah, it was me, Delphine has nothing to do with it. I spaced out and, well you know...”  
“Shite Cosima, your hand is busted. What are you going to do? You still have a couple more shows!”  
“No big deal Sarah. Chill, I can do it.”  
“Excusez-moi, a show? Are you an artist?” The French woman asked.  
“Yeah, actually. I perform magic tricks.”  
“Oh, interesting. My nephew likes that sort of thing.”  
“Antoine?” Cosima said the name before she could stop herself. Delphine looked at her in wondrous surprise.  
“Oui, how did you-?”   
“Eh, I think we met before. A long time ago, in the airport, actually.”  
“Vraiment? I don’t remember...” No you don’t, but I do. Since that day the image of you has always been in my head, Cosima thought.  
Delphine snapped her fingers in remembrance. “Oh, you are that magician! I know who you are, you’re the one that flew over the bridge!”   
“I wouldn’t say fly, but yeah, that was me.”  
“That was amazing, how did you do it?”  
“If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you,” Cosima joked, and Delphine laughed heartily in response. She was mesmerized by the sound of that laugh, and Cosima wanted to hear it again. This time she was going to do something. She wasn’t going to waste the chance to see her again.  
“Anyways, to apologize for the inconvenience I’ve caused for you, I’d like to invite you and your nephew to my show. Sarah, can you please call Rachel and get tickets for her please?”  
“No need to bother Cosima.”  
“It’s not a problem, please accept them. I’ll feel much better if you go.”  
“Bien, that is lovely!”  
“All right then, please leave me your number Delphine, and I’ll call you when Rachel gets me the tickets, yeah?” Sarah and Delphine exchanged contact information and then she came to say her goodbye.  
“I have to go now. Sorry about your hand, Cosima.”   
“Thanks for bringing me here Delphine.”

When Delphine disappeared through the entrance Cosima released a long breath that she didn’t realize she was holding.   
“Shite Cos, you were flirting blatantly with the Frenchie. How is it that you know her?”  
“I saw her when you arrived 10 years ago, and I never saw her again until now. This is a sign Sarah!”  
“Ten years? What the eff Cos, and you never forgot her? Shit!” Sarah went to speak with the doctor to fill my release form, but in the meantime Cosima thought about Delphine and then, Katja. Fuck, Katja. What the hell I’m supposed to do, she is dying for fuck’s sake, I can’t give her my back, not now. Cosima was again trying to make sense of the extremely messy situation. She wanted to help Katja, but she also wanted to focus on Delphine, the girl she had to waited 10 years to see again.  
That night when they both returned home, Cosima explained to Katja’s situation to Sarah.  
“You kidding? Blood?!”  
“Yeah, she’s not okay Sarah. She told me that’s why she left, because of her disease. And apparently, she returned to be with me”  
“Is she out of her bloody mind?! How she can ask that of you Cos? She left without any explanation, and now she begs for forgiveness because she is sick? Hell no!”  
“I said that too, but she seemed really bad. What if she is dying, what if I am the only one who can help her deal with her condition?”  
“Dams Cos, you are so fucking caring that you’ll help her no matter what she did to you. What a fool you are, sis.”  
Sarah was right. Cosima was a pure soul. She could never turn her back to someone who needed her aid, she would help Katja as much as she could. After taking a hot shower and taking pills for the pain in her hand, Cosima laid in her bed. Her mind reviewing the events of the day she just had. She wondered what would have happened if she had stopped at the junction, or if she had stayed one minute longer while speaking with Katja. All the what ifs?, all the possibilities… Yet those questions were meaningless now, because destiny was doing it’s thing, acting upon the life of every being following its course. The time was now, Cosima Niehaus, let’s see how you play with the cards you’re dealt.  
____________________  
Delphine arrived at her destination; she swiped the card key through the lock until the door green to open. Once inside, she closed the door, walking to the bedroom where she dropped her handbag on the night table and flopped tiredly onto the bed.  
“Vous avez pris certainement votre temps,” a male voice said from behind her.   
“Aldous, I had a little drawback; you are not going to believe it.” Aldous sat by her side and began to kiss her neck.  
“I’ve met the magician you always talk about.” Aldous stopped in his tracks, and took Delphine’s jaw and made her look him straight in the eye.  
“Cosima Niehaus?”  
“Oui, I ran over her by accident.”  
“You did? Oh, well. This is very interesting. I was thinking about approaching her. Right now my career is stagnant, and with her we could achieve greatness. She’s exactly what I need, but she’s very cautious.”  
“She seems really nice Aldous, she even gave me tickets to one of her shows. You should speak with her.”  
“She’s known to be very reclusive; she’d never let me near enough to propose an association, but you my dear, made a good impression. You will attend that show and you will get close to her, befriend her, but don’t be too pushy, you will reel her to me little by little.” Aldous continued kissing her.   
“I can take that girl and make her a star, and you can help me help her. Will you do it, Delphine?”  
“Oui, bien sûr.”  
Oh Delphine, and just like that you sealed your fate, the path that awaits you will be bright and filled with magic, but darkness as well. Which path will you choose? Will you be brave enough to fight for your own choice, or you will let destiny have the last word? The answers will come, but not today.   
That is a story for another day.


	4. Chapter 4

Delphine Cormier woke up the next day thinking about that girl. She already knew a little bit about her because Aldous spoke of her often, as he was interested in taking her under his wing. At least that’s what she thought. What an unexpected way to meet Cosima Niehaus. Who knew that the she was going to run over her? To have ran into the person that Aldous was looking for precisely, what was the probability? Whatever the reason for this encounter, she had to admit that she was quite glad that it had happened. Cosima was a really nice girl, so sweet and charming. She was quite impressed by her and she really wanted to get to know her better.  
Delphine got out of bed and showered quickly. After she finished, she dressed casually and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. Delphine was staying with her aunt and nephew, who lived in San Francisco. Delphine came to visit them whenever she could. She came to research a new technique that was being implemented in at UC Berkeley, so for the next few months she was going to be living with them.

Her life in Paris was a quiet one. She went from her home to work, and back home again. She had earned a PhD in immunology and was doing a lot of research in Paris when one of her colleagues showed her the work being done in Berkeley. She had decided to come to the Bay Area and pursue a joint investigation with the local researchers. It was actually at one of the galas held by the Institute to raise funds for research that she met Aldous Leekie. He was one of the old school magicians, and though he used to be very famous, with new tricks and new technology progressing quickly forward he was getting behind in the magic business.  
When Delphine met him she was very impressed by how knowledgeable he was. No one could deny that he was a very interesting man. She got involved with him, but she couldn’t say that it was a romantic relationship. It was more like finding someone who could understand her. Aldous shared with her his idea to boost his career, and he admitted that he was going to need the help of a bright mind in order to succeed. Last year when he had seen what the dreadlocked girl did over the Golden Gate Bridge, he knew he found the perfect candidate- someone with new ideas, who was bold and completely capable of achieving greatness.  
So when Delphine came back to San Francisco to work on her research, Aldous joined her to find this magician. Months passed and Aldous’ many attempts to speak with the girl were denied by her entourage. Her circle of trust was extremely small, and to let another magician in was something the young illusionist couldn’t risk. It was really ironic that Delphine met the girl without even trying.

“Bonjour cousin,” The young boy greeted Delphine.  
“Bonjour Antoine, I made waffles for you.” Delphine set up the table and sat down with the two dishes she prepared.  
“Guess what Antoine? Remember the magic show you wanted to go?”  
“Oui, Demonizer, the last show sold out.”  
“Well, I got tickets, or at least I should go get them later today, in the afternoon.”  
“Quoi? Are you serious? But how?”  
“I met the magician in a very strange way. The thing is that she offered the tickets.”  
“Merde! That’s awesome, Delphine!” The boy was in total bliss, he really wanted to go to that show. He had been following Cosima’s acts since her Youtube days. He was a true fan.  
“Hey watch your language, young man.” Delphine scolded him.  
“Mes excuses. You met Cosima, in real life? I can’t believe it. She’s amazing.”  
“I’m glad that you are happy, now finish your breakfast and go to school.”  
When both finished Antoine kissed Delphine goodbye and went to catch his bus. Delphine cleaned the dishes and went off to work.  
_________________  
“Sarah, just make sure to call Delphine, all right?” Cosima reminded Sarah again.  
“Yeah, you’ve just told me that for the 100th time. Jeez Cos, you’re seriously obsessed with the Frenchie, cut it out!”  
“Okay, okay, just don’t forget it, please.” Cosima said again before heading out.  
Better go out without Sarah really knowing that she was going to meet Katja again. If she knew she would be really pissed. Cosima couldn’t leave the German alone. She wanted to at least offer comfort and good company while she was seeking other treatment alternatives. Katja wasn’t short on money, so she could go to any institution available for that matter.

When Cosima arrived at the hotel, she announced herself at the reception. When she got the room number she took the lift and went up to see Katja. She knocked on the door and waited for the German to open up. After a minute she finally opened.  
“Guten Morgen Cosima. I am glad you came.” She widened the door to let Cosima in.  
“Yeah, just don’t get any ideas, okay? I’m here to help, not to get back together.” Cosima stated.  
“I told you, that’s fine by me. I don’t expect anything in return. Your company is enough.”  
She sat down on the couch next to Katja. Looking closely at her ex-lover, Cosima noticed her thinner frame and pale skin. The dark circles underneath her eyes aged her.  
“Dude, how did all of this happen? You were with me when you got sick, right?”  
“According to the tests, it is a genetic disease. It is degenerating the cells in my lungs and that apparently activated while we were together.”  
“Crap, that sounds totally complicated.”  
“Because it is a genetic disease, the probabilities of its occurrence is very low, therefore, making it more difficult to treat. What happened to your hand? It was fine yesterday.”  
“An accident, no big deal really, it was…perfect, actually.” The dreamy look on Cosima’s face obviously gave her away. Katja knew her pretty well, after dating for almost two years.  
“Oh an accident, a hot accident I suppose.”  
“Yeah, very hot.” She spat out the words without thinking. When she realized what she had just said she felt bad for Katja.   
“Shit! Katja, sorry, I didn’t mean to show off or anything.”  
“It’s fine, you have the right to see other people. It doesn’t necessarily make me happy, but I understand.” A coughing fit came over her, and she covered her mouth with a tissue that was quickly stained with red. Her throat was raw and the taste of blood lingered in her mouth. Cosima took another tissue and cleaned the corner of her mouth. Katja thanked her softly and went to wash her mouth out in the sink. It pained Cosima to see her like this, especially when she remembered how happy and healthy she had been a few years ago. When Katja returned, they began talking about other, happier things. The idea was to forget that Katja was dying. Even though she never mentioned anything about dying, Cosima knew that things were pretty bad. They talked about the weather, politics, sports, any topic that they could think of to distract the sick woman. After a while, Cosima said goodbye to her ex.  
“I have to go, you know, practice and shit.”  
“Danke, Cosima. Today was really lovely.” Katja planted a kiss on her cheek.  
“Yeah, sure.” Cosima said, giving her a small smile. She stood up and left to focus on her practice. After all, she needed to make sure that her injured hand was not going to be a major problem during the show.  
_____________________  
After Delphine completed her work, she went to the office where the woman named Rachel Duncan was to give her the tickets. The woman offered to send them by courier, but Delphine felt that was too much, so she went to pick up the tickets herself.  
After a bit of driving, she reached the address, parking her car and going towards the entrance. She rung the bell and waited until a voice buzzed through the intercom, saying she could come in. The office wasn’t as big, but it felt comfortable. She took a seat while the secretary announced her arrival to Ms. Duncan. She saw hanging on the wall newspaper clippings and a few magazines that mentioned all Cosima’s feat. Aldous was right, her potential was massive, but she just needed a push. The secretary interrupted her thoughts and instructed her to go inside. She thanked the woman and walked through the office door.  
“Uhm, hello?” Delphine entered the room.

“Good afternoon Ms. Cormier. Please, take a seat.” A shorter woman with a blonde bob haircut showed her the chair.   
“My name is Rachel Duncan, I am the promoter and manager of Cosima.” The woman extended her hand, and Delphine shook it.  
“I heard Cosima messed up your car?” Rachel asked.  
“Oh non, it was the opposite, I am the one who caused damage to her by accident.”  
“I understand, I was making sure that we did not have to cover any other expense.” The petite woman opened a drawer and took out an envelope.  
“Here,” she handed the envelope to Delphine and added, “Inside are your tickets, they are for the final show. I have also guaranteed a backstage pass as well, since Cosima requested it for you.”  
“Merci beaucoup. Ms. Duncan.”  
“Oh no need to thank me, I just do my job.” Rachel replied.  
The door opened again to make way for the twin that barged in.   
“Oi Rachel! Here is the-“ She stopped midway when she noticed that Rachel was busy, with none other than her sister’s new obsession, the French woman.   
“Oops, sorry I thought… Anyways, hi. You are Danielle? No… Was it Daphne?”   
“Delphine.” She corrected.  
“Shite, I was close though.   
“You are Sarah, correct?” She nodded briskly in response.  
The resemblance was quite unique. Same height, same face, same eyes, same everything. Their accents were different, and so were their attitudes and style. Sarah tended to be more cautious towards people, while Cosima was friendlier. It was a very peculiar dynamic.  
“Is Cosima around?” Delphine asked Sarah.  
“No, she’s busy practicing her shite.”  
“Okay then, give her my thanks when you can.” Delphine stood up and walked towards the exit.  
“Alright then, see you Saturday, I guess.” Sarah said, just before Delphine closed the door.  
Delphine briefly checked her watch, it seemed she had time to do some errands, so she turned the engine on and went to do her errands. The sun was setting was when she finally finished. She went back home, she greeted her auntie, who was also arriving home from work, and her cousin.  
“Did you get the tickets?” Antoine asked eagerly.  
“Oui, here they are.” She pulled the envelope out from her purse. His eyes were bright in his excitement.   
“And we also got a pass for backstage, Antoine.”  
“This is awesome, maman, did you hear? I am going to meet Cosima the hot one!!!” The young man ran up the stairs to his room, probably to brag to his friends online.  
“The hot one?” Delphine asked her aunt curiously.  
“He might have a little crush on the magician girl, Delphine. You have no idea what you got into when you offered the tickets to him.”  
“He likes Cosima? I had no idea.” Delphine kissed her aunt goodnight and went up to her bedroom and called Aldous to notify him that she had the tickets.  
“That is perfect Delphine, go to the show. Like I said learn as much as you can.”  
“Are you really going to be able to help her, Aldous? She is doing quite well, in my opinion.”  
“Yes, she’s doing great, but without someone with power to help her climb to the top, she’s just going to stay here in this city with no future. Trust me Delphine, we can help her to be someone even greater.”  
“Alright, I’ll call you back when I meet her on Saturday then. Talk to you later.”  
She lay prone on her bed, thinking on the magician again. Why she couldn’t stop thinking about her, why was Cosima called her attention so often? There was something about that girl; she didn’t know what it was. Whatever it was, she was glad that she was going to be able to see her again soon. Even though she was actually doing this for Aldous as well, she wanted to help in some way. Her kindness, her smile; those were things that she yearned to see again. Saturday was going to be a great day. She was sure of it.  
The wheel of destiny keeps spinning; all of its players are in position, who is going to make the next move? How they are going to react? Questions answered brought more questions, the moment to act was now. The show is about to begin, the curtain will rise, but who will remain at the top? For now, rest assured that you have a front row seat to see firsthand how this story will unfold. What will happen next? Well, my friend. That is a story for another day.


	5. Chapter 5

Cosima was in her dressing room, smoking pot to to help her relax. She wasn’t supposed to be this nervous, as usually she was always in control, but today was not just any presentation. She knew that Delphine was going to be there, watching her every move and that made her jittery.  
She checked herself in the mirror what felt like the 120th time, changing clothes and trying different outfits. She wanted to look good, more than good actually, she wanted to look fantastic. In the end, she decided to go with black leggings, a black top, and a red jacket. She finished off her joint and took a bottle of water, her hands warm and sweaty. She really needed to get her shit together or else she was going to fail miserably, which was something she couldn’t afford to have happen, not when after so much hard work. She breathed in and out in an attempt to soothe her nerves, and took out her coin and began to play with it, making it disappear and reappear, moving her hands graciously and fast enough to cheat the human eye. This zone in her head was what she loved, where she felt comfortable. A knock on the door startled her, and she let the coin fall to the floor.  
Sarah peeked inside “Oi, you ready?”  
“Yeah, I’m ready.” she said, not very convincingly.  
“Ok, I’ll give the signal to all the staff to get in position.” Sarah got stepped to her sister and hugged her tightly.  
“Last show little sis, you’re going to be great.”  
“Who are you calling little, dude, don’t give me that big sister shit!”  
Sarah smirked. “Come on, weirdo. Time to get on stage.”  
She left, and Cosima was alone once again. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. She was going to do this, and it was going to be freakin’ awesome. She picked her coin up from the floor and left the room.

The intro of Carmina Burana started to play, and smoke slid into the room, creating a mysterious atmosphere. The audience sat silently, waiting. A silhouette appeared center stage, and the spotlight immediately moved to focus on the petite dreadlocked woman, who held a deck of cards. “Good evening ladies and gents, welcome to Demonizer. My name is Cosima Niehaus, and you’re about to experience an act of magical proportions.”  
“I’m gonna need some help, maybe one of you can help me. Hm. Let’s see…” She closed her eyes and lightly touched her head to convince the audience that she was concentrating hard. “Mr. Dawkins, would you please come up to the stage?” The people applauded as a young man approached the stage.  
“Hey there, Mr. Dawkins. Before I start anything else please tell the audience, have you ever met me before?”  
“No, this is my first time here.”  
“So, you don’t know me, and I don’t know you, is that correct?”  
“Yes, that’s correct.”  
“Cool, just wanted to clear that I called the first name that I heard. You know that there are demons among you right now? They whispered your name to me, Mr. Dawkins.” The audience gasped collectively.  
“But don’t worry. After all, I am the Demonizer. Want to get rid of them Felix? Can I call you Felix?”  
“Holy shite! How did you know?!” Felix was beginning to get a little bit freaked out.  
“Okay then Felix, pick one card from this deck, any card.” Felix took the deck and drew one card, holding it closely to his chest.  
“Don’t worry Felix. I already know you picked the six of clubs, no need to hide it.”  
“Are you effing serious?” Felix the card to the audience, which indeed was the six of clubs. The people clapped and some gasps could be heard.  
“Anyways, what I really want you to do is to write your name here, and by the end of the show, this card will be in possession of your savior.”  
“The card is going to be inside this crystal capsule, everybody will be able to see it during the show, okay?” Felix signed the card, placed it inside the capsule, and went back to his seat.  
“Great! Now that we have that, what do you say we do some real magic.” The audience clapped with enthusiasm.  
Cosima started to juggle three white balls easily and dexterously.   
“What attracts people to magic is the illusion to be fooled. They like to see things disappear and magically appear, even though everything is in right in front of you.” she threw the balls extremely high up, pulled out a magician’s top hat, and with it caught the falling balls. When she turned the hat over, nothing came out of it. It was empty. More claps ensued from the audience.

“You like to think that you can solve the enigma,” she said, pulling a black handkerchief from her left pocket. She showed it to the audience first, then with a couple of swift gestures with her hands around it and the three white balls were into view again. People clapped again with more excitement.  
The show continued for a long, exciting hour. Cosima levitated items, she cut and replaced limbs from her assistant, and she marveled the public with mind games, puzzling them with more weird events during her act.  
“Whoa, it’s been a crazy trip to the magic world, thank you all for coming.” The roar of applause was deafening, and Cosima bowed to thank the audience again.  
“If you were good tonight, then it’s pretty obvs that the card we left at the beginning of the show is right inside the capsule.” Cosima headed to the capsule and called for Felix to come up again.  
“Okay Felix, please take the capsule, open it and show the card to the audience please.” Felix did as she instructed.  
“No way!” Felix exclaimed. “Woah! That’s not your card Felix, but just don’t freak out. We’re gonna find it. We have a queen of hearts, hmm, so your card is in the possession of a Queen. We have many beautiful queens tonight here with us. But what she doesn’t know is that I have her heart, right here.” Cosima showed the card to the audience again.  
“Now, I’m going to find this queen, who might be our savior for Felix.” Cosima placed the card in her palm, and made a fist which she put over her chest right where her heart was beating.

“My Queen I can feel you, you are very close, your heart feels very warm. Wait, it’s getting hot, so hot that it actually burns!” At that moment Cosima opened her fist and a flame erupted from her hand. The card was turned to ashes. At that same moment a sound erupted from the audience.   
“MERDE!” people looked in the direction of the standing woman.  
Delphine saw that there was a smudge over her blouse, like something burned over her heart, and a faint burning smell lingered on her blouse.  
“There she is Felix, that’s our Queen right there.” Cosima said with a huge smile on her face. Delphine had the spotlight right on her, she didn’t knew what to do, and she was really getting nervous, particularly because the attention was all on her.  
“Excuse me miss, could you please check your pockets or your handbag?” Cosima politely requested. Delphine checked her pockets quickly, which contained some mints, a key, and… what was this? She drew out from her right pants pocket a card. The audience gasped in surprise.  
“Could you say what card it is, and show it to everyone to make sure it is his card?”  
“The six of clubs,” Delphine said, quite impressed and displayed that it indeed had Felix’s signature. The audience went nuts, cheering and clapping like crazy.  
“Thank you very much!” Cosima bowed once more to the audience. Right on cue the music started, the lights on stage went out for an instant and Cosima was gone, nowhere to be seen when the lights came back on.

“Good job everyone, thanks for being so awesome guys! Without you, this show would have never be a success.” Cosima thanked her staff before going back to her dressing room.  
Cosima was really tired, the pressure to do well especially tonight was too much. At this point, she just wanted to take a hot shower and go to sleep. She reached her door and entered the dressing room. She took off her red jacket and tossed it over a chair, she was too hot and needed to refresh her sweaty body. She took a small towel and moistened it with hot water, putting it behind her neck to help ease the tension. She then strode to the center of the room where the love seat was and flopped onto it, closing her eyes and putting her arm over her forehead in tired defeat.  
Minutes later, a soft knock on the door startled her. 

“Oi Cos, you’ve got some fans here!” Sarah peeked through the door. Cosima opened her eyes and said, “Really? I thought Rachel had no more passes backstage.”  
“Well, she lied.” Sarah smiled mischievously, turning her head to speak to the people waiting outside. “Please, come in.” Sarah opened the door wider to give them access, and as soon as the two guests entered Sarah winked at Cosima, who was gaping.  
“Del…Delphine? What a surprise! I didn’t know you had a pass.” Cosima stood up quickly, staring into the brown eyes of the taller woman.  
“Oh, I thought it was your idea Cosima. Anyways, I have to say that the show exceeded my expectations. I have seen a couple of things like this and let me tell you, you’ve got such a magnetic personality that it makes the show more enjoyable.”  
“Wow, that means a lot to me Delphine.”  
The young boy cleared his throat to call the attention of both women. “Je suis tellement désolé Antoine. Cosima, this is my cousin Antoine Beraud.”  
“Oh, hello Antoine.” Cosima extended her hand to Antoine, who shook it shyly.  
“He is your biggest fan Cosima, he has been following you since forever.”  
“Cool, I’m glad you like what I do!”  
The boy cheeks turned bright red. “Yes Miss Niehaus, I like your style. It’s hella rad!”  
“Oh please, call me Cosima.” she replied, smiling at him gently.  
“I’m sixteen Cosima, in two years I’ll be eighteen so…”  
Cosima frowned, not understanding immediately the message “Uh? Oh, OH! Right, yeah, you’ll be legal, whoa, that’s… um... very flattering...”  
“Qu'est-ce que vous dites Antoine!” Delphine scolded Antoine for his impertinence.  
“It’s cool Delphine, actually that is very sweet of you dude. I like you, you’re very bold!”  
That made Antoine smile, his face now was completely red, his blue eyes glowing with happiness.  
“Since you’re my number one fan, you deserve some recognition man. Why don’t we go out, with your aunt of course, I don’t want to end up behind bars. How about we go and get some ice cream? I’m a sucker for ice cream, so what do you say?”  
“Delphine, s'il vous plaît accepter, disons oui!” Antoine turned to his cousin, begging for her to accept as he desperately wanted to go out with Cosima.  
Delphine sighed. “Vous devez promettre d'aider votre mère à la maison, d'accord?”   
“Oui, je le promets!” He answered quickly.  
Cosima stared in amusement at the exchange between the cousins. It was really cute to see the two of them reaching an agreement or whatever they were discussing.  
“Okay Cosima, we accept the invitation.”  
“Awesome, Sarah has your number so I might call you later to set it up.”  
“Oui, I’ll be waiting for your call!”  
“All right Antoine,” Cosima fist bumped Antoine. “Before you two go, can I borrow a coin from you Delphine?” Delphine looked curiously at Cosima, but she handed over her coin anyway. “Thanks,” Cosima said. She grasped it in her hand between her index and thumb, and her empty hand came across, taking the coin between fingers and thumb, she took the coin away, holding it in her other hand and her original hand was clearly empty. Cosima turned her hand over and started to rub her fingers together, slowly opening her hand to reveal that the coin was gone.  
“Woah!” was Antoine’s reaction.  
Cosima swiped her hands to demonstrate that the coin was gone, and showed her hands back and then front, to confirm again that the coin was really gone.  
“Incroyable. You’re really amazing, Cosima.” Delphine said.  
“Can you teach me?” Antoine asked hopefully.  
“Sure, when I take you two for ice cream, I’ll teach you a couple of tricks to impress your friends!”  
“Merci Cosima, you are the best!” Antoine suddenly hugged the petite magician; she patted his back and gave a warm smile to Delphine.  
After saying their goodbyes they both left Cosima in her dressing room. When they were gone, Cosima felt relieved. She was seriously happy that Delphine liked had her show. Her opinion meaning the world to her; she didn’t know how bad she wanted her approval until that moment. And now she was going out with her and her cousin. It wasn’t exactly what she had in mind, but it was a chance to get to know more about the French woman.  
The magic unfolds in a starry night. The stakes are high, and the path to love might open once more for the magician, but that, is a story for another day.


	6. Chapter 6

Cosima had no idea the havoc she created in her cousin; saying that Antoine was excited was an understatement. On the way back home Antoine was talking like crazy, making plans for their date, according to him. He was incredibly happy to meet Cosima particularly because she was one of his idols, one who he considered was hot.  
Once on their home Antoine greeted his mom with a kiss and went immediately upstairs to brag to his friends about the meeting with Cosima. Delphine went for the kitchen and brew a cup of tea.  
“It seems everything went well” her aunt said  
“Very well, the show was fantastic and when Antoine met her, you had to see him, he was blushing.” Delphine told as much as she could with every detail she could muster, reliving once more the excitement and emotion, until she remembered she had to report to Aldous, in that moment her emotion left. She had no idea why the simple thought of retelling her experience with Cosima felt kind of wrong with Aldous. She put aside those thoughts and after drinking her tea she went to her bedroom.  
Delphine decided to bath before making the call, she needed to think how to approach this situation. Once inside the tub she let her body soaked in the hot water, the bubbles softening her skin, her blonde curls moving free in the water. She sighed, Cosima, the name that was stuck in her head, the woman who was so kind and charming, the magician.  
She was expecting her to make the call more than she should, even though it was just an innocent invitation to go out with her cousin and her, because Cosima is too nice, she was anxiously waiting, there was something about her, and she wanted to know more, she wanted to uncover her secrets.  
She stayed in the tub until she felt he was about to pass out from the heat, she dried her body and rest with her sleepwear, a white t-shirt and a short. When she was in bed, she took her cel and made the call to Leekie.  
“Bon soir Delphine, how was the show?” The voice sending shivers through her body.  
“Hello Aldous, everything was fin. The show was really good, just as expected.”  
“Did you approached her as we discussed?”  
“Oui, I am going out with her and my cousin, she was very kind to invite him to eat”  
“That is excellent news, that is a great chance to made a pitch Delphine. I want to meet her.”  
“Would I provide our contact information?”  
“No, it is better if the encounter seems casual, not imposed. Offer her to come to one of my presentations, this weekend I have one, make sure she attends.” And he cut the call.  
Delphine put the phone on her bedside table; she was not feeling comfortable the way Aldous was doing things, and the way in which he spoke to her was like someone giving orders. She did not like this at all, yet, he possessed the influence that Cosima needed to open more doors in the magic business, and she wanted more than everything in the world for her to succeed. She laid on the bed, of course, thinking of her; how nice of Cosima to invite her cousin to eat ice cream, she was so passionate about what she did, she could feel her energy spreading through the crowd, it was magical. That charisma she had was like a magnet, probably the reason why she couldn’t stop thinking about her.  
Her cellphone started to ring, she took it, and when she saw on the screen unknown caller, she frowned, but she still picked up.  
“Allo?”  
“Delphine?” that voice, it had to be her, the magician.  
“Cosima?”  
“Yeah, how are you Delphine? Did I call too late?”  
“Non, I was eh, reading before going to bed”  
“Cool. Anyway can you and your cousin meet me at Baker’s beach, and don’t worry we are not going to the nude section”  
Oh how she made her laugh, it was so easy to feel at ease with her, how did she do that?  
“Delphine, you there?”  
“Oui, sorry I spaced out, no problem we will be there”  
“I’ll text you tomorrow morning to give you more specific details and the time, okay?”  
“Oui, très bonne. Great”  
“Awesome, see you both tomorrow. Good night Delphine”  
“Bye Cosima” the call was over, and she felt the emptiness, the sound of her voice resonating in her head, she really loved to hear the way she called her name. It sounded sweet and “Merde, Cormier pulled it together, she is the mission and don’t you forget it” she said out loud and sighed in frustration, she was sending her to Aldous, he could help her and that was it.  
_________________________  
The next morning Cosima woke up so full of energy and excitement, today she was going to see Delphine again, and her cousin of course, though she would make up any necessary excuses to see her again over and over if that was necessary, she didn’t mind the youngster, he was a nice kid after all.  
She was so attracted to her that was stupid to deny it. Cosima wanted to be close to her, hear her voice and that killer accent, jesus fucking Christ, she needed to find out more about her, was she dating someone?, because she had no ring on her finger and that was awesome news to her.  
Once she was ready she got out of her room and while going to the kitchen she found an unexpected guest.  
“Woah dude, what the fuck?” Cosima said to the almost naked man picking his clothes on the living room.  
“Hello, ah, I’m Paul” He extended his hand and Cosima shook it cautiously “Awkward, I’m Cosima”  
“Yes, I know, ah nice meeting you” Paul finished dressing up and quickly left the flat. She went to the kitchen and started to make the coffee. A couple of minutes later Sarah came out of her room, she was wearing her favorite The Clash t-shirt, London Calling and in her black undies.  
“I’ve met Paul, where the hell did he came from” Cosima raised her eyebrows in indignation.  
“He was still around? Shite, sorry about that. I’ve met him a couple of nights ago, nothing serious though” She sat on the kitchen counter and grabbed a cup to fill it with coffee.  
“You wake up early Cos and you are ready to go, weird, where is the fire?” Sarah asked casually.  
If Cosima tells Sarah that she has plans to meet Katja now she was going to flip, instead she omitted that part “I’m going to visit mom, and maybe take Darwin for a stroll later.”  
“I see, say hi to mum then, I am going to the office to check the balance with Rachel and then discuss alternatives to get your name out of here”  
“Sounds good, let me know how it goes” Cosima finished her coffee, kissed Sarah on the cheek and left.

Cosima met Katja in the hotel. Katja looked little bit more better, her cheeks were more colorful, which maybe was a good sign.  
“How are you doing Katja?, you seem better today” Cosima said smiling  
“Danke Cosima, I’m trying to sleep more”  
“I am going to talk with my mother, she might offer advice to what to do, after all she is a doctor, remember?”  
“Ja, I do. I don’t know what other alternative she can offer, still I appreciate your concern Cosima.”Katja took Cosima’s hands between hers, at that Cosima tensed.  
“You are a kind spirit Cosima, and I am an idiot for not trusting you before” Katja squeezed Cosima’s hands lightly “Now I know that this is the biggest regret of my life” Katja stood up and kissed Cosima on her cheek, Cosima blushed in response.  
“Katja, I-“ Katja put her index over Cosima’s lips “Don’t say anything; I’m tired now, I’m going to lay down for a bit” Katja smiled at Cosima and went back to her bed. Cosima’s heart clenched seeing her former girlfriend beaten like that, sick and weak. Maybe she was a fool, like Sarah said, but she cared for her enough to seek hep for her. She really hoped that her mother could give her good news.

 

Cosima ran the bell and immediate the sound of a bark and her mother’s voice “One minute”. She could hear the barks louder which meant that Darwin was close. When her mother opened and her face lighted. She hued her daughter and the dog was on her legs.  
“HI mom, what’s up?” Cosima kissed her mother, then she kneeled to pet Darwin, her golden retriever “Hey big boy, how are you?” Darwin licked her face and it’s tail was wiggling really fast. “Yeah, I’m happy to see you too Darwin” Cosima stood and entered the house.  
“To what do I owe the honor of my daughter’s visit?” Her mother seated in the couch, patting the side to encourage Darwin to join her. “By the way I heard good reviews of your show my little Hermione Granger”  
“Mom cut it out! You like to make fun of me don’t you? I wonder why Sarah is such a pain in the ass” Her mother grinned at the remark, of course Sarah had that attitude from her.  
“I told you that I want to ask you a thing regarding a health issue” Cosima clasped her hands behind her head, trying to look casual; she didn’t want her mother to freak out for nothing.  
“Yes I know, I just hope you aren’t thinking pulling now a weird disease illusion”  
“No mom, it’s serious. It’s a friend, she is sick with a lung disease which it’s genetic and really rare. So far she has not been lucky to find a treatment or cure.”  
Her mother kept pensive for a while “Well if it’s genetic there must be something in her own genome that can help understand that disease and her immune system might be responding in a particular way.” Her mother started to mumble things and talk with herself for a while.  
“I think I know someone who might offer better advice, he is doing a research study in UC Berkely, let me call him and I’ll let you know”  
“Thanks mom, you are very helpful. By the way, can I take out Darwin for a stroll?”  
“Of course sweetie”  
“Cool, and Sarah says hi”  
“Send her a hug for me, that ungrateful daughter of mine never comes to visit”  
“Mom! Don’t say that, you know that she is still bitter because you split us apart when we were kids, though she loves you”  
“I know kiddo, and I am sorry for the crappy decisions I made, I did the bests I could for both” Cosima went to her mother and hugged her “We love you mom, don’t forget that” She kissed her and called for Darwin. “Let’s go boy” Darwin immediately follow Cosima wiggling his tail. Her mother went to get Darwin’s leash and Cosima took that time to text Delphine, she awaited her response. Seconds later the text screen appeared, Delphine agreed to the meeting place. Cosima smiled, she was going to see her in a few hours.

 

As usual she was late, she saw Delphine already waiting with her cousin. She smiled and wave at her, Cosima smile in response.  
“Listen to me Darwin, I need you to behave, okay? I really like this girl, you have no idea” Darwin barked and wiggled his tail. “Yeah I’m counting on you boy”  
Finally she reached Delphine “Hey Delphine, ehm, I’m kinda always late so kinda always sorry”  
“Oh don’t worry Cosima, we just arrived” she smiled.  
“And how are you doing Antoine? You cool?”  
“Yes, thanks”  
“Ah by the way this is Darwin” Darwin approached Delphine and barked to call her attention; he is my dog, though he lives with my mom since we can’t have him on the flat.  
“Hello Darwin you are very cute” Delphine pet him and he licked her in return.  
“I love dogs,but my maman is allergic so we can’t have pets” Antoine also petted Darwin.  
“You want to take him for walk?” Cosima asked the boy  
“Can I?” Antoine asked Delphine. She nodded “Yes, go ahead, and be careful Antoine”  
Cosima handed the leash and Antoine went away with the dog.  
“You want to walk near the beach?”  
“Oui, let’s do it”  
Cosima took her shoes off and headed to the shore “Come on Delphine, the water feels great” Delphine copied Cosima and with her shoes on her hands she joined her in the shore. They walked for 45 minutes talking and sharing their interests. Delphine knew she had a task to complete, Leekie wanted to see Cosima on his presentation during the weekend, so she had to think a way to pitch the idea and not look obvious. She was distracted when suddenly cold water hit her.  
“Hey you little brat, stop that!” Delphine started to run away from Cosima who was laughing like crazy trying to splash her. The two of them playing like little kids on the beach. After both got tired from fooling around they sat on the sand.  
“Thanks for inviting us Cosima, Antoine is having so much fun with Darwin”  
“No problem Delphine.” Cosima grinned.  
“It’s really nice to make a friend in the brave new world” Cosima blushed.  
“Well we should get going, I promise you ice cream after all”  
Both women stood up, when Antoine’s voice caught their attention “Darwiiiiin!!!” The dog was running loose in their direction “Oh shit” was the last thing Cosima could said before the dog jumped over Delphine, and she fell over her.  
Cosima opened her eyes to find the French woman on top of her, she was so flustered, feeling Delphine’s breath in the crook of her neck. Cosima didn’t dare to move, her hands digging on the sand to avoid the temptation to touch her.  
“Merde! Delphine said, quickly she realized where she was and stood up as fast as she could “Are you okay Cosima?” She offered her hand to help the petite woman to stand up. Cosima took her hand “yeah, don’t worry” Darwin was at her foot wiggling his tail.  
“I’m sorry, suddenly he started to run and I couldn’t hold the leash” Antoine explained.  
“No don’t worry, Darwin is very playful and he likes jump on people for fun” Cosima said teasingly.  
“Well you guys go ahead and I’ll catch you up, I’ll get Darwin back home and then I’ll see you at the ice cream shop.”  
Antoine patted Darwin on the head and went back to the car, Delphine ruffle the dogs hair “You are a very anguthy dog Darwin” at that the dog barked in response, Delphine laughed. “See you in a bit Cosima” she walked towards Antoine.  
“Shit Darwin, you did that on purpose! And for that I thank you buddy” She shook the dogs paw and Darwin barked. “Let’s take you back home”

 

After a while Cosima reached the place where they were going to eat ice cream. She found them on a table and seated with them. “All right you two pick whatever you want, but let me highly recommend the eskimo pies”  
Delphine frowned “Eskimo pie?”  
“Yeah, prepare yourself, you are about to become a craving addict” Cosima stood up went to pick the ice cream.  
After eating their eskimo pies and converting Delphine in a fan of the delicious treat, Cosima taught Antoine a couple of magic tricks. “Just practice a lot and I promise that you will impress your friends”  
“Thanks, they are going to flip when I show them”  
“Speaking of magic, did you know that this weekend Aldous Leekie will make a presentation, wouldn’t you like to go?”  
“Leekie? That dude uses a risky approach to some illusions, and he is more old school you know?” Cosima retorted  
“He may have a different approach, but I still think it’s going to be fun. Soooooo?”  
Cosima kept silent for a while, thinking her response, she wasn’t a fan of Aldous Leekie but it was Delphine inviting her and only her so… “Sure, why not?” and she made her play.  
The plan was in motion, the prey moving slowly but surely into the lion’s den. A friendship had bloom and trust was given. What fate could await the young magician? Was she going to fall into the hands of Aldous Leekie? Soon the answer will come but as you already know, that is a story for another day.


	7. Chapter 7

Cosima slowly lit a joint. It was Saturday morning and later that day, she had to meet Delphine at Aldous Leekie’s show. It seemed that Delphine was a fan of Leekie, because she could not think any other reason why on earth she would like to go see Leekie. She wasn’t a fan of his, to say the least. While she respected the man, she didn’t like his methods. He was the type of dude who relied on manipulation, rather than misdirection. She felt that was low for a magician, but still, she had to please Delphine. She had nothing else to do so what gives, she was going to spend time with her and that was all she cared about.  
She released the pent up smoke in her lungs. What the hell had that woman had done to her? She thought of Delphine day and night. It was worse than when she was with Katja; with Katja, things had gone slowly. They met up, they started to hang out and the relationship developed along nicely. But Delphine, shit, this attraction was driving her crazy, what was she going to do? These feelings were a total surprise for her, she had never expected to feel like this for a woman she just met a week ago. She’d never felt so desperate to be with her, to breathe her in, to touch her.  
Goddamit Cosima, you’re in deep shit. The worst is, for all you know Delphine has a boyfriend somewhere. Cosima finished off her joint, she was in need of a cold shower, she was so fucking aroused just thinking on the way her body felt on top of hers. You are going to hell Cos, what gives? She closed her eyes, one hand went south below her waistband, the other on her breast. She slowly released her breath. Delphine, fuck. She can picture her so clearly now, her imagination filling the gaps of how her hands would feel over her body and the taste of her lips. It was almost like having her between her legs. She was going to enjoy it, she could live with the fantasy for now, but how long could she endure it until she wanted the real thing.  
After Cosima showered and dressed she found Sarah in the kitchen.  
“Morning Sarah, how was the meeting with Rachel?” She sat on the counter.  
“Hey Cos, you want a cuppa?”  
“Yeah, thanks.” Sarah filled her mug with hot water and a tea bag.  
“We reviewed the total expenses, we did well, but we’re gonna to need you to perform private shows or we’re gunna to have trouble with the next month’s bills.”  
“Really? I thought we did fine...”  
“We did. The thing is that there are also more expenses now. It was a bigger show, so it cost us more money.”  
“Shit, then I have no time to fool around. I’m going to have to start designing my next big illusion.”  
“I know you wanted to take it easy, but we are in need of cash soon.”  
“Yeah, I get it. I’ll start working immediately.” Cosima took a sip of her tea. Her mind processing a million ideas for her next project.  
“You got your spell book in the safe?”  
“Of course, and don’t call it a spell book Sarah! It’s like you’re mocking my fucking effort dude.” Cosima moved her hands in exasperation.  
“Whatever Cos, just make sure you get the damn thing safely. If you lose that shit all your fucking tricks will be known and that’s it for you sis.”  
“I know, I know, I’ll be careful.”  
Sarah finished her breakfast and sat beside her sister “Rachel got you a gig for next week in LA, this Olympic medalist wants you to do a show for her, the pay is good and I think it’s a great chance to spread your work.”  
“Olympic medalist? Who are you talking about?”  
“It’s this Canadian girl who runs marathons. Years ago she was in the public eye for consuming pills or something, wait, let me show you, yeah?” Sarah took out her phone and logged into her e-mail account to check the info that Rachel sent her. She scrolled through various messages until she found the one she was looking for. “Here,” Sarah handed her phone to Cosima.  
“Elizabeth Childs. I see, yeah, I remember. So she’s hosting a party and wants me in?” Cosima gave Sarah her phone back.  
“Exactly. In the meantime gets your genius brain working on a new illusion and I’ll take care of preparing a plan with Rachel.”  
A sound interrupted the conversation. It was Cosima’s cellphone.  
Cosima took it out and saw that it was her mom calling, and accepted the call.   
“Hey mom!”  
“Yeah, she’s here,” she said, looking at Sarah.  
“Aha, really?” Cosima asked in excitement.  
“Okay, thanks mom, I love you.” She put her cell back in her pocket.  
“What’s up with mum?” Sarah asked.  
“Nothing, I took Darwin for a stroll yesterday and she was telling me about how dirty he was. Oh, and she says hi.” Cosima preferred to keep this info under wraps. She didn’t want Sarah to know that she was helping Katja and that her mother got her an appointment with a specialist in a couple of days.  
“Well I gotta go, I’m picking up the notebook from the bank’s deposit box and going to work in the library, and then I’m heading to see none other than Aldous Leekie.”  
“Bloody hell, Aldous Leekie? That old illusionist? You kidding me?”  
“Yup, actually Delphine wanted to go and I said I would join her”  
“Delphine? Shit Cosima, don’t you think you are getting too close to that woman? I don’t know Cos, I don’t like her.”  
“You never like anybody I meet, Sarah. Besides, she’s just a friend”  
“My gut tells me that she is not to be trusted Cos, I don’t know, there’s something about that woman…”  
“Whatever Sarah, I’m not asking for your permission, I’m just letting you know.” When Cosima stood up and left her sister alone, she closed the door harder than usual. “Bitch!” Sarah said, she was certain that the blonde woman was up to something. Cos was simply too blind when she was too interested in a girl to be objective. Sarah being street wise could tell that something was off with the blonde, she just needed to find what it was.  
Cosima sat in the library, kind of upset. She hated to argue with Sarah, but when she wanted to be a bitch, she was a major bitch. How could she say those things of Delphine? Sarah didn’t know her like she did. She was researching and reading material about illnesses from the past. She wanted to find a miracle for Katja and that inspired her to prepare her next show. It had to do with life and death, but in order to do so she needed to do a lot of research. In her hands she held the notebook, her holy bible, her most precious item, all the ideas that led to the magic tricks she performed and made her own were written in this notebook. The magician’s biggest secrets were hidden within it’s pages.  
She worked for several hours until she had something, something that she knew was on the path to creating one hell of an illusion. This probably would be what she needed to participate in the International Festival of Magic. She just needed to give it shape and then create the equipment needed to make this possible. She checked her watch and gaped at the time. “Shit, Delphine is going to kill me!” Cosima quickly put back all the books she took in their proper places and went to the meeting place as fast as she could. She was going to be late for sure.  
Finally she made it to the auditorium, she headed for the main entrance looking for Delphine. “Hey!” She turned around. “Delphine.” She smiled as soon as she saw the French girl.  
“I’m glad that you came, come on, let’s take our seats.” Delphine grabbed Cosima’s hand and entwined her fingers with hers; Cosima was so glad she had come. They found a good spot and waited for the presentation to start. In the downtime they chatted about magic and illusions and how each performer created a style of their own, and what feat each of them were recognized by.  
“Like I said, I feel that Aldous Leekie manipulates the audience in a way that doesn’t feel natural, you see, it seems more like a threat.”  
“Cosima, you are overreacting. Leekie has a lot of experience, and probably his methods are old fashioned, but they’re still good.”  
“You like this guy a lot, don’t you?” Cosima asked in incredulously..  
“Not like that.” Delphine dismissed Cosima’s suggestion with a sheepish smile.“I do like his tricks though.”  
When Cosima was about to say something further she was interrupted by Aldous Leekie appearing center stage.  
He welcomed the audience and explained the purpose of the night’s presentation. Aldous Leekie was the type of magician who specialized more in mind games, unlike Cosima, who used more visual illusions to create an impression of awe in the audience. Cosima was enjoying the show after all, when she was in good company she could enjoy the worst movie in the world if this woman was by her side. They stole glances and smiled cheekily at each other. It was a flirtatious game that both played very well.  
Aldous noticed that Delphine had brought the petite magician with her, which was his chance to test her. “It seems that we have a very welcome guest. Miss Niehaus, what do you think of the latest demonstration?”  
“The power of the mind is a tool that we can use to convince weak minds to do our bidding, yet to create a real illusion you are going to need more than that, Mr. Leekie.” Cosima smirked. Delphine looked at her in disbelief, how bold she was to say such a statement to his face, and for that she respected her more than ever. This girl was definitely something special. Aldous smiled and nodded in approval, he was certain that Cosima Niehaus was the answer to his plans to be back in the game. He continued his presentation for another hour or so.  
After he was done, Delphine and Cosima were discussing the different tricks used and Cosima explained to Delphine more or less how she thought Aldous realized the effect of hypnosis. “Look, he is right there let me talk to him, oui?” Delphine strode in the direction of the old creep while Cosima got seriously distracted by her swaying backside. Cosima, eyes up goddammit, stop staring. She watched the interaction between Delphine and Leekie from afar until the French girl started to make signals for her to get closer.  
“Good evening Ms.Niehaus, it was a surprise to see you here. I was in New York when I heard of your latest feat. I came here to see with my own eyes what I was missing.”  
“Mr. Leekie, I have to say that it was very enlightening. You have a certainly compelling way of controlling people, you’re quite a clever man.”  
“Did you know that because of my powers of compulsion, I attracted this young lady here?”  
“Bullshit.”  
“A skeptic!”  
“I am a magician, so when someone talks about magic I say show, don’t tell.” Delphine looked at Cosima with her mouth open, and then she smiled.  
“C'était agréable de vous rencontrer, Delphine.” He shook Delphine’s hand and then Cosima’s. “I hope to see you again, Ms. Niehaus.” Aldous Leekie left them to continue his greetings.  
“He speaks French, no wonder you like the dude.” Cosima said, not terribly happy at all.  
“Cosima, you are such a brat. I respect Mr. Leekie, that’s all there is. You are my favorite magician, vous comprenez?”  
“Totes. Let’s go.”  
They walked side by side to the parking lot. Delphine took out a cigarette and offered one to Cosima. ”No thanks, only pot for me.”  
“Really?” Delphine released smoke from her mouth.  
“Yeah. I’m gonna get you so baked one day.”  
“Okay, one day. This is my car, so good night Cosima” She kissed Cosima once on each cheek.  
“I have to go now.”  
“Good night, Delphine!” she gave a small smile in return, kind and shy. She waved farewell to Delphine and started to walk away when the blonde woman spoke again.  
“Would you like to have lunch tomorrow?” Delphine asked.  
“I have a thing to do, maybe later, I’ll text you.”  
Delphine nodded and slid into her car. Cosima stood right where she was, she couldn’t help to keep staring the woman until she was far away. She took a deep breath and released it slowly; she knew for sure that she was in deep shit.  
___________________  
After Delphine left the auditorium there was only one place where she could go, she was going to meet Leekie at his hotel.  
Once in the hotel, she went straight to his room, he probably was expecting her with instructions. For some reason she didn’t felt comfortable walking towards him. At least now that’s how she felt. In the past she had done so with ease.  
She passed her card key through the lock and entered. He was seated on the couch. “Very well Delphine, you did bring her to the show. She trusts you, it seems.”  
“She is a very kind woman Aldous, even though she didn’t like the idea she came anyways.”  
“She has just been cautious, she’s very clever. I need to make her an offer. I heard that she needs an investor, in fact. I can help her Delphine, and you and I both know that. Now, I need to engage her and make my move.”  
“If that’s the case, I invited her to eat. She did not confirm when, but as soon as she does I’ll let you know, you can come and find us. In there you can make her an offer, you can deal directly with her.”  
“That’s good Delphine” Aldous stood from his sofa and pulled Delphine closer to him.  
“You need to focus now more than ever. If she joins me, we will succeed.” He stepped closer and kissed her.  
The only thing that Delphine felt was cold; she didn’t get that warm fuzzy feeling in her stomach when she was with Aldous. She thought of Cosima, and her big toothy smile, in her voice and how she made her laugh with her sass, according to Antoine. Aldous had money, he could make Cosima into the next big thing and she was willing to do whatever it took to help her, it was going to take time, but she was going to do her best, as always.  
That night the two women thought of each other, miles apart but bound by their hearts. However, one was scared to say it, and the other too afraid to admit it. The wheel of fate turns endlessly, what will be it’s next stop? Could it bind two souls forever, or split them apart? Whatever the answer, we will leave that story for another day.


	8. Chapter 8

Cosima called Katja first thing in the morning, as today they were going to see the specialist that her mom had recommended. Cosima was really hoping this guy could offer some help.  
She was going to pick her up in half hour, but in the meantime she took out her notebook and started to make some annotations. The more she worked on her ideas, the faster they came to life, and according to the information Sarah provided they were in need of something new quick. A knock on the door startled her. “Cos you awake?” It was her twin and Cosima didn’t want to talk to her now, but she couldn’t avoid her either.   
“Yeah, come in.”  
“Hey Cos, ah, I know you’re pissed, but can you please just listen to me? It doesn’t hurt to be more aware”  
“Sarah, I’m not discussing Delphine with you! Besides, it’s none of your business.” Sarah sighed in frustration.  
“I know, I just want you to be careful with her that’s all. I don’t want to be right about her, trust me.”  
“You did the same shit with Katja, Sarah!”  
“And I was right, Cosima! Jesus! Look, I don’t wanna fight, just stay away from Delphine, at least until you have more information about her, yeah? Stick to the magic.”  
“What am I, the magic monkey now?”  
“Just be careful, yeah?” Sarah closed the door and left.  
Cosima knew that Sarah was worried about her. Still, she wanted her to stop butting in her things, she was a grown up for fucks sake. She could deal perfectly fine with Delphine. Besides, what was the worst that could happen? That Delphine rejected her? She put her notebook in her handbag and went to pick Katja up, it was time for their meeting with the doctor.  
After Cosima picked up Katja they went to UC Berkeley, where the doctor her mother recommended was waiting for them. Cosima explained to Katja that this guy was doing some type of research in specific cells and that they knew a lot of information. If they could research her biology, then it was possible for them to develop an understanding of her disease and treat it.  
Both women walked to the research building, looking around for the office of their specialist.  
“Hey dude, excuse me, we are looking for a Dr. Daniel Rosen, do you know where we can find him?” Cosima asked a man wearing lab coat.  
“He’s in the immunology department, follow that hall and then turn left, the third door on the right is where he usually is.”  
“Alright, thanks.”  
Cosima and Katja followed the directions given to them and were right where they guy said. They entered the main office and asked the receptionist for Dr. Rosen.  
“One moment please, I’ll announce you in a second.”  
“Thank you.” Cosima took a seat beside Katja while they waited for the doctor.  
“Don’t worry Katja, you’ll be fine.” Cosima said reassuringly.  
“Danke Cosima, you have been more than good to me.” Katja put her hand over Cosima’s. She smiled at the German, whose hand was cold.  
“Cheer up, Kat!” Cosima called her by the nickname she used with her when they were together, and Katja blushed a bit. Cosima took out her magic coin to provide entertainment for Katja who looked like she was about to throw up. “Watch,” Cosima said to Katja. She moved her coin between her fingers and then held it in one hand, passing the other hand over her fist a couple of times, then she allowed Katja pick a hand. She selected the one where she saw Cosima put the coin, when she turned her hand it was empty, she opened the other hand, which was empty as well. She raised her index finger to let Katja know to wait a moment. She then put her hand over Katja’s cheek first and offered a smile, then she moved her hand behind her ear and there she found the coin, showing it to her. Katja smiled and took Cosima’s hand to put it over her cheek again, it felt so warm there. Katja closed her eyes for a second to feel the heat radiating from the other woman’s palm when a voice startled them.  
“Excusez moi Clara, the doctor… Cosima?” Delphine was standing at the entrance to the lab, wearing a lab coat and staring at the intimate scene between Cosima and Katja.  
“Delphine?” Cosima withdrew her hand as fast as she could, she didn’t want to give the wrong impression obvs.  
“What are you doing here?” The French asked, while assessing the other woman.  
“Eh, we came to see Dr. Rosen. I mean, she did.” Cosima stood up awkwardly, crossing her legs in an attempt to seem as casual as she could. “This is Katja, err, an old friend; Katja, this is Delphine”  
“Hello.” Delphine offered a small smile.  
“I see,” Katja said.  
“Come with me, I’ll take you to Dr. Rosen’s office.” Delphine passed a card key through the laboratory door and let them in.  
“You’re a scientist?” Cosima asked the taller woman.  
“Oui, I work here. I came from Paris to do research here.”  
“Immunology, huh?  
“Yes, I have a PhD, and here they were doing here a very interesting study on cell receptors”  
“Awesome.”  
Delphine stopped at another door and knocked gently, a male voice said to come in, which they did.  
“Dr. Rosen, here are your guests. I’ll leave you now to talk” Delphine excused herself and went back to the laboratory.  
“Thank you for receiving us Dr. Rosen, I’m Cosima and this is Katja Obinger.” Cosima extended her hand to the doctor.  
“Yes, I spoke with your mother and this case is very intriguing. Please can you explain how this started Miss Obinger?”  
Katja started her story with as much detail as she could; the doctor took several notes while she described her initial symptoms and all the studies that were done. After she finished the doctor reviewed the information given to him before speaking again.  
“The first we need to do is understand your own cells. I’m going to need you to provide blood samples for testing and analysis. Also, we’re going to need your presence in the lab more often depending on what information we come up with, Miss Obinger.” Katja and Cosima nodded in understanding, it was going to be a slow process, but at least it gave them hope.  
“You already met Dr. Cormier, she is one of our finest specialists here. Please Miss Obinger, go with Dr. Cormier so she can take your blood samples.” Katja stood up and went looking for Dr. Cormier.  
“Doctor. Do you think you can help her?” Cosima asked the question she knew Katja wanted to ask but was too afraid to do it.  
“I don’t know, we have to see first what’s going on with her, but we are going to do our best, so don’t worry too much now.”  
________________  
Delphine had to admit that it was a surprise to find the magician right here where she worked, but a bigger surprise was to see that she was with someone else, an old friend she said. For some reason, that annoyed her. She didn’t like the redhead, not one bit. The problem was why she cared so much, it was clear that Cosima had other friends, she hung out with them and had fun, so why did this bother her?  
Merde Delphine, focus, she thought. She was getting too distracted to get any work done now.  
“Entschuldigen Sie mich,” Delphine raised her head to look at the woman who was standing nervously in front of her.  
“The doctor said you will take a blood sample?”  
“Of course, please take a seat.” Delphine stood up and went to grab the materials for sampling blood.  
“Del-fine, ya?” the redhead said.  
“It’s Delphine” She corrected.  
“Ja, I know.” Delphine furrowed her brows not understanding what she meant then.  
Delphine put on latex gloves and took a rubber band that she tied to the redhead’s arm. She looked for a good vein to extract the blood.  
“You are French.”   
“Oui, and you are German.” She responded, both stating the obvious.  
“It seems that dear Cosima has a thing for Europeans,” Katja laughed. Delphine took cotton and cleaned the area with alcohol.“A thing?” She asked, not quite understanding what the German meant. “Forget it doc, no big deal.”  
“So you two are old friends?” Delphine asked out of curiosity. Well, at least that was what she said to herself.  
“Ja, though we were more than friends.” BOOM! there it was, the sting in her heart. Why did you have to ask that Delphine you big idiot. She took the needle and inserted it slowly and started to draw the blood.  
“She is a very lovely girl, Dr. Cormier and even though I blew it, I can be a very patient woman.” Katja said seeing how uncomfortable she made the doc.  
She removed the rubber and put a band-aid on the puncture. “You are all set.” She put the blood in a vial and stored it safely in the freezer.  
“Danke Dr. Cormier. It was a pleasure meeting you”. Katja extended her hand to Delphine. Delphine removed her latex gloves and shook her hand warily.  
The shorter woman returned to Dr. Rosen’s office, and she released her breath like she was holding it in for too long.  
Delphine did not like the fact that Cosima rejected her lunch invitation to be with the German, thought it was stupid to be mad when the real reason was that the German was apparently sick. Clearly that was more important than going out with her. They were more than friends, but it seems that was a while ago. Still, the German made pretty clear that she still harbored feelings for her magician, and that she did not like at all.  
“Nom de Dieu, you need to stop, Cosima is free to do as she likes,” she said aloud. But, that did not erase her insecurity. She was worried that Cosima would get back with Katja, and that was an idea that she could not accept, Cosima was hers.  
_______________  
“Thank you Dr. Rosen, and please let me know how things are going.” Cosima said to the doctor before leaving his office.  
“How are you feeling Katja?” Cosima saw her friend was paler. Katja was having another coughing fit. When it was over Katja excused herself to go wash her mouth. Cosima saw Delphine and approached her.  
“Hey Delphine.”  
“Your friend seems very sick, Cosima.”  
“Yeah, I wish I could do more to help her.” Delphine put her hand over Cosima’s shoulder, the contact soothing and giving strength to Cosima. “We are going to do our best to help her.”  
“Thanks Delphine.”  
“You need to cheer up, ma cherie.” Merde. The term of endearment slipped out of her mouth. “How about we go out for lunch tomorrow?” She changed the subject abruptly.  
“Ah right, sure, why not?” Cosima smiled and Delphine’s insides melted.  
Cosima noticed that Katja was coming back, she said goodbye to Delphine, the French did not waste time kissing Cosima’s cheeks now that the German was back. “See you tomorrow Cosima!” Cosima nodded and left.  
“She is really hot, I give her that.” Katja commented.  
Cosima was busy spacing out. “Huh?”  
“Your new love interest,” Katja said, matter of factly.  
“Yeah, but I don’t think she’s interested, we’re just friends right now,” Cosima said.  
“You sure? Blondie looked pretty jealous to me.” Katja was sure of it, but she wasn’t going to insist. Cosima didn’t want to have false hopes, she got that and if she was mistaken then she was going to suffer. That was the least she wanted to do, after what she had done.  
Cosima brought Katja back to her hotel and then she returned home. Hopefully Sarah was busy with Rachel, she didn’t want to see her now, and besides, she had a lot to do regarding her next project. She was going to lay in her room and start researching more on her laptop before going to bed, probably smoke some pot and then sleep. Yeah, that’s a good plan, she thought.  
_________________  
The next day Delphine worked on her research all morning, right before she left she had agreed to analyze the sample given by the German to Dr. Rosen. She took the vial and put a drop on the slide; she saw through the microscope and observed the red and white blood cells. Everything seemed normal, therefore a more in depth analysis was required. They had to look for genetic markers to see if there was any anomaly there. She processed the sample and left it for the lab team to work on it. According to the files she got from Dr. Rosen her lung tissue was degenerating at a faster rate, as a result the blood during her coughing fits. She felt pretty bad for her situation, it was extremely complicated and her situation didn’t look promising, yet she had given her word to Cosima that they were going to do their best and she intended to stick to her promise.  
Her phone rang, it was Aldous. “Alló?”  
“Vous rencontrez Cosima?” He knew that they were having lunch, but he just needed to confirm the info that she had provided.  
“Oui, je rencontre avec elle pour déjeuner.”  
“Je vous vois.”  
“Je comprends, pas de problème.” She ended the call. Everything was ready, but she felt bad about this. She wanted to have her own time with Cosima, she wanted to get to know her better, and with Aldous there it was going to be difficult.  
As per usual, Cosima arrived late. Delphine already suspected that she was going to be here 10 minutes late at least, but she didn’t mind, that was just a part of who Cosima was. They greeted each and had a nice meal, drinking wine and sharing many stories. It was a really lovely day. She told her that indeed she needed a sponsor for her new show, for which she was starting to develop a couple of new tricks, and she was working on it right now.  
“That’s very interesting, you start from an idea and make it into an illusion.” Delphine took another sip of wine.  
“Yeah that’s it, but I have to take note of every detail or else it’s going to be difficult to translate my idea, but that’s the drill.” She also drank more wine.  
“Anyways Delphine, how long you have been here for?” Cosima asked.  
“A couple of months, I’ll be staying here until I conclude my research, then I’ll probably go back to Paris.”  
“Oh, is that so?” Cosima seemed sad.  
“Well, I don’t know exactly when that is going to happen and now that I’m working in your friend’s case, it will probably take a little more time, so who knows when I’ll be done.”  
“Well, I know you are going to find something to help her, I really do Delphine.”  
“I’ll do my best.” She gave her a reassuring smile. When she noticed Aldous, she knew it was time to put the plan in action.  
“Look, there is Mr. Leekie, I should invite him. Would you mind if I do?”  
Cosima shrugged “Whatever you want.”  
“I’ll be back.” Delphine walked towards Leekie and spoke with him until they came back to the table.  
“Miss Niehaus! What a pleasure. How is the business doing?”  
“Very well.” She responded dryly.  
“Cosima is a great entertainer, Mr. Leekie. You should see her, she is marvelous!” Delphine commented.  
“I have no doubt of that Miss Cormier. You ladies know that it is very important to keep things fresh, and I’ll be preparing a show soon in Las Vegas. It would be nice if you could join me.”  
“Las Vegas? That’s cool, but I need keep my focus on festivals first, gotta sharpen my skills.” Cosima retorted.  
“You are very talented, and I could help you. I have the power to boost you Cosima, what do you say?”  
“I’ll pass.” Cosima said looking him straight in the eye.  
Delphine giggled. “Cosima you are really… what is the word?”  
“I think that the word you are looking for is cheeky.”  
“Yes, she is very cheeky, this girl. And that’s why I like her.” She bit her lower lip.  
“Well, I’ll leave you two to enjoy the rest of your day. Here you go, just in case you are interested before I leave,” he said, holding out a small paper.  
Cosima took Leekie’s business card and pocketed it.  
“You want to watch a movie or something? We can go to my place if you want to come...”  
“Oui, that sounds like a good idea Cosima.”  
The two of them went to the Manning household. Cosima showed Delphine where she and her sister lived. Delphine took the time to see the place; it was a nice cozy apartment with a wonderful view. She saw the family pictures and she smiled looking at the small girl with glasses, but she noticed that there weren’t many pictures of her when she was a kid.  
“Don’t you have baby pictures, Cosima?”  
“Most are in my mother’s house, but we don’t have many, you see, my sister and I grew apart, she grew up in London and me here.”  
“Oh that explains the accent, I understand now.”  
“What do you want to watch?” Cosima asked.  
“Any movie is fine.” Delphine sat on the couch beside Cosima.  
“All right, let’s see what’s on TV.”  
After a couple of hours of laughing and watching rom-coms, the girls went to the kitchen to drink more wine. It was so fun to be in the company of such an amazing woman. Delphine was really happy and felt so comfortable with her; it was the first time that she felt someone was really interested in getting to know her and not just making conversation for the sake of it. She saw Cosima playing with the business card; this was a chance to ask her about it.  
“Why are you so coy regarding Leekie’s proposal Cosima? Don’t you think this is a great opportunity to get out of here and become the greatest magician the world has seen?  
Cosima took a sip of wine before giving her response. “I don’t know, I need to think about that later, right now I have other things in my head.” She put the glass over the kitchen table and closed her eyes, probably sending a prayer before she made her move.  
Delphine was worried, as Cosima suddenly looked so serious. Cosima looked at Delphine “Don’t you think it’s time we admit what this is really about?”  
Merde, she knows. Delphine gulped, what the hell she was going to do now? She was done for sure.   
Cosima approached Delphine, closing the distance between them and in a heartbeat, her lips were on her mouth. Delphine had her eyes wide open, she didn’t know how to react, but her body did, her lips tasting Cosima’s in response, softly, timidly and then she remembered what was the purpose of her being close to Cosima, and that made her feel sick.  
She broke the kiss, smiling apologetically to Cosima.  
“Oh God Delphine, I didn’t mean to disrespect-”  
“No no it’s ok, I have to go.” Delphine took her bag and got the hell out of there. Cosima sighed and saw Delphine leaving like her life depended on it.  
__________________  
One kiss; that was all it took to destroy her friendship with Delphine. Cosima had a hard time trying to sleep; she had no idea if she could call her again after what she did. If she made a mistake, then at least she wanted to apologize, but she did not want to make her feel uncomfortable, not after her foolishness.  
“Shit, I fucked it up.” She was pretty sure of it.  
She had gambled, and she had lost, or so she thought. The young magician knew that all she did was an illusion, that magic was not real, but in that instant she wished that it was, for what she needed was magic to make everything right with Delphine.  
Fate is capricious, and Delphine was part of the magician’s destiny, that was undeniable. The real question though: Was she was going to take the magician’s heart? Was Delphine going to accept the feelings that she had in hers? The night is not long and soon the sun will come up, our time here has ended, so we will leave this story for another day.


	9. Chapter 9

Delphine went to work as usual, but the problem was that her thoughts were a complete mess. She was nowhere near focused today, she simply had other things on her mind. Well, just one thing actually.   
That kiss. It was really stupid for her to be in this state of madness. She just couldn’t understand why she was in complete chaos because of one simple kiss. She’d kissed and been kissed before, what was the big deal? Besides the fact that it was a girl who did it, it was just a kiss.  
C'est ridicule Delphine, you are being completely immature. Her cellphone rang abruptly, startling her and interrupting her inner conversation. Oh merde! It was Aldous.  
“Alló?”  
“How are things going Delphine? Has Cosima told you anything about my offer?”  
“I asked her about it, but she said that she needs time to think, she is not sure, Aldous.”  
“Then you will have to find a way to make her be more interested, Delphine.”  
“She is the one who needs to make the decision. I’m not supposed to interfere; it has to be her choice Aldous. And I don’t think, well... she… she made a pass at me.”  
“That’s interesting. Use that to your advantage, I mean, don’t you care about her future Delphine? Why won’t you help her?” His tone now was extremely malevolent.  
“Of course I want to help her Aldous, it’s just that I-”  
“Do it.” With that, he closed the call.

Delphine was now more confused than ever. She wanted the best for her magician, and of course she wanted to help her. She knew that Cosima was good, but she didn’t have the star power to do it alone, to make it big yet. Leekie could do that for her, but why on earth did that sound totally wrong?  
She continued working processing some samples when she got the results from the German/ex-lover/not-over-Cosima/Eurobitch : Katja Obinger. Delphine, you need to pull it together, she is very sick. There is no need to be… rude? She closed her eyes trying to bring calm to her conflicting thoughts. She was a scientist and her job was to study and analyze the best as she could the samples before her, period.  
The morphology of the cells was normal, her leukocytes were higher in number, obviously because of the response her body was giving to fight the lung infection. The problem was that it seemed everything else was functioning. The T cells number was really high, maybe it had something to do with her protein receptors. She had to order more analysis and maybe look for genetic markers to see if the real problem was in here genes. Delphine took notes and wrote ideas to keep looking for the real cause of the problem. She really had to do her best here. Like it or not, Katja was important to Cosima, and Delphine didn’t wanted to see her sad. She had become so accustomed to her smile that she didn’t dare to try to imagine her sad.

Time passed by. Delphine was so busy that the hours flew by and it was already late, she checked the clock on the wall. 8:00 pm; she was starving, but drinking coffee and eating chips was the best she could afford from the vending machine, so she started to pick up her things and get ready to go home, she could probably go to the drive thru and buy a hamburger in the nearest fast food restaurant or maybe... What if she went to Cosima’s? She knew that she had to fix things quickly with her, as she had completely freaked out and now she was ashamed of her behavior. She definitely needed to speak with her.  
And that’s exactly what she did. She went straight to Cosima’s place. As soon as she parked she went upstairs and knock on her door, she waited, and waited. Finally someone opened the door. It was Sarah Manning, the older twin.  
“Hi, is Cosima here?” Delphine asked tentatively.  
“Oi Cosima!, it’s Delphine!” Sarah announced.  
“Shit, really?” Cosima peeked through her bedroom to the living room. “Hey, uh, could you give me ten minutes Delphine? I am half naked here, so…” Cosima was all wet, which must have meant she was in the middle of a shower.  
Delphine nodded, blushing for no reason at all. She sat on the large couch in the living room, Sarah sitting in the chair across from her. Sarah examined the French woman carefully, her instincts telling her to be careful. She trusted her instincts closely, it was what allowed her to survive in London, but something was off about this woman.  
“So, Doctor Cormier, I heard that you are an immunologist.” Sarah needed to find out as much as she could.  
“Oui, I am working right now on a project, and also helping your sister’s German friend.”  
Sarah was not expecting that info though. “WHAT? The German, are you effing serious!?” Sarah stood up and went inside Cosima’s bedroom. Delphine could hear the twins argue clearly.  
“Did you plan telling me that you were seeing that bitch?” Sarah spat.  
“Shit Sarah, she is sick for fuck’s sake! She needed help!” Cosima retorted.  
“Oh, how convenient that you are the only one who can help her, nice aren’t you, sister?” Sarah continued.  
“Man, chill okay? She and I are done, geez.”  
For some weird reason hearing that seemed to soothe Delphine. After a while, Sarah came out of Cosima’s room. She seemed to be in a bad mood. She sat beside Delphine this time.  
“What business brings you to my sister?” Sarah asked, rather annoyed with Delphine.  
“Ehm, I would like to invite her to dinner. If she would like to, of course”  
“Why didn’t you call her instead?”

Right, why I didn’t call her first? “Because… because I wanted to see her.” Not just see her, but to see her smile, her eyes, just her.  
Sarah scooted closer to Delphine and inclined her body in a extremely menacing manner. “Listen carefully Delphine, you mess with her and I swear I will hunt you down and kick your willowy arse. She already went through a lot of shite with Katja, yeah?”  
Delphine gulped. It was scary as hell having Sarah so close, not just because it was like seeing Cosima, but because it sounded like her, with the clear exception of her accent.  
“I want to be friends with her Sarah, I mean no harm.” Delphine said.  
Sarah saw straight into her eyes, hazel eyes so bright and beautiful, like her magician. Sarah stared for a moment, then stood up and left the loft. Delphine released the air she was holding, feeling less stressed now. Sarah Manning was a lioness ready to tear her to pieces for the sake of her sister, and that made her feel a little warm inside.  
“Hey Delphine, everything okay?” Cosima strode out of her room.  
“Oui, don’t worry. Sorry, I dropped in unannounced.”  
“No that’s cool, anyway I am so sorry, you know, about last time? I tend to jump to conclusions. You’re not gay.” Delphine nodded.  
“It’s okay, Cosima.”  
“Good, because I want to make crazy magic with you, like totally crazy magic.”  
“That’s good that you mention that. Would you like to go out to eat something, or maybe we order takeout and talk about some ideas I want to share with you?”  
“Sure, mind if we order Chinese food?”  
“Non, bien sûr que non, that is a very good idea.”

The two women sat and watched TV while they waited for their food to arrive. Cosima sharing her progress on the new illusion she was planning and Delphine offering feedback as best as she could, of course, throwing the name of Leekie here and there subtly.  
She thought that it was going to be awkward between them, but Delphine noticed that Cosima never made her feel uncomfortable, and never made a move on her. She never totally invaded her personal space. It was very respectful, and they were both more than content that they were friends.  
However, Delphine could not stop thinking about that kiss, not when they watched TV or when they ate their Chinese food. Her eyes kept searching her lips, no matter how hard she tried to look into her eyes and act like nothing had happened. Delphine needed to seriously think what was going on with her, because she was acting completely out of character. Delphine, cela ne peut pas aller sur, the fact is that you are attracted to her, a girl. “Merde!”  
“Delphine? What’s wrong?” Cosima asked frowning her brows in concern.  
Did I just say that out loud? Yes, I suppose I did. “Oh nothing, I just remembered that I forgot some documents in the lab that needed reviewing and data analysis, but I can do that tomorrow.”  
“Speaking of analysis, any news regarding Katja?”  
“Non sorry, nothing conclusive.” Delphine covered Cosima’s hand with hers.   
“I know you are worried, but I promise that I will do everything that I can to find a way to help her, chérie.” A small smile formed across Cosima’s face. Delphine felt like the whole world became just a bit brighter because of that smile. Delphine, you are in deep trouble, this is not okay, you are not okay, this girl is driving you insane, go now, run before it’s too late.

Delphine stood up and walked to the kitchen and poured more wine into her glass. Leave now Delphine, this is your last chance, do it. Cosima followed, and the look on her face revealed her concern. Still, she kept her distance. Delphine gulped down the entire glass. “I can’t stop thinking about that kiss.” There, she said it. Her heart felt as if it were about to explode.  
“Like, ah, not in a bad way?” She couldn’t get more cute than that, Delphine had to admit. Abort Delphine! Abort now!  
“I never thought of bisexuality before, you know, for me? As a scientist, I know that sexuality is a spectrum, but social biases codify attraction, contrary to the biological facts-”  
“That’s... oddly romantic.” Cosima responded, and Delphine smiled.  
“Totally encouraging though.” Delphine was now very serious, what was she going to do? She was really encouraging her with that stupid comment. What was she going to do? C’est quoi ce bordei Delphine, stop now, don’t do this. The heated debate on her head was driving her mad, but one look at Cosima and she was done, she lightly slid her thumb across Cosima’s lips, and Cosima’s eyes were dark with hunger. Delphine’s throat suddenly went dry, and she licked her lips.  
Je suis barré. Indeed she was fucked-up. She took Cosima’s face, leaned over her and kissed her senseless, the taste of wine lingering. It was so delicious. She snaked her arms around Cosima, pulling her closer to her, the petite woman standing on tiptoe to reach the the French woman’s lips. She was anchored on her shoulders, and their tongues battled for supremacy. Delphine pushed Cosima against the kitchen counter, kissing her like there was no tomorrow, and Cosima’s hands traveling along her spine sent chills of excitement through her. Things were escalating pretty quickly. Cosima was getting rid of her robe, as she wanted to feel Delphine’s hands on her skin, and Delphine attempted to assist her in shedding the loose robe. The kissing resumed quickly and - “BLOODY HELL!” Sarah was back home.  
The two women split apart. Cosima became flustered, Delphine’s cheeks tinged with pink, and both were breathing heavily.  
“Shite, next time send a text or something Cos. I wouldn’t like to interrupt your friendly business, yeah?” Sarah looked at Delphine, reminding her of her words. She then moved on to her room and closed the door.

“I think I should go,” Delphine said with a sheepish smile on her face.  
“Yeah, see you tomorrow?” Cosima asked.  
“Oui, bien sûr ma chérie.” Delphine pecked her on the lips before picking up her things and leaving the Manning household. Cosima just stood there silent, still realizing what happened. She was neither dreaming nor high, this was reality and she was ecstatic. This was magic, real magic.  
Another day at work, another day to review samples and analyze data, yet today was different because she followed her heart. She kissed the girl, her girl and she had never felt so alive. This was something absolutely new to her. The way Cosima felt so soft and her sweet smell mixed with pot, the taste of her lips. It was all magical. Just thinking about her made her smile and her eyes glow with happiness; she simply couldn’t deny that Cosima had changed her for good.  
In the corner of her eye she caught Dr. Rosen entering his office with the German. Probably to explain the current situation with her sample analysis, she assumed. So far nothing seemed to make sense, but the truth was somewhere inside her biology, and Delphine was good, really good. She knew she could crack the code.  
She raised her sight and saw in her petite magician wearing a red jacket that suited her smaller frame, her dreads in a bun, showing the length of her neck. She was grinning when she spotted her. Delphine went immediately to greet her, wasting no time kissing her. A brief kiss, but it felt like she was burning up from the inside at the smallest contact.  
“Bonjour ma chérie, how are you?” Delphine hold her hands.  
“Now that I see you, amazing. You know, I kinda thought about you last night, well, a lot actually.” She was smiling brightly.  
“You did? That makes me very happy, I thought about you too, and your sister.”  
“Woah, you are very kinky Delphine. Twins?” Delphine was shocked, with her mouth hanging open and hit Cosima lightly on the arm. Cosima burst out in laughter, guffawing openly.  
“You, cheeky girl, are going to drive me insane. What I mean is that your sister doesn’t like me very much.”  
“Sarah is overprotective; don’t worry about her, okay?” Cosima kissed Delphine’s hands.  
“So, are you free tonight?”  
“Absolutely.”  
“Can I go to your place and maybe watch movies? It’ll be fun!”  
“Yes, of course!”  
“All right, I will-“ Her cellphone started to ring. Delphine took out her cell from her lab coat pocket to see Aldous Leekie on the screen. Her smile disappeared in an instant.  
“I have to pick up, it’s work related, so I’ll text you later.” Delphine kissed Cosima once more and walked as far away as she could to answer the damned call.  
___________________  
“I was right, blondie was into you,” Katja said after coming out of Dr. Rosen’s office.  
“Yup, she is.” Cosima smiled.  
“Lucky bitch, Ich beneide sie.” Katja coughed, but her fit didn’t last long.  
“Let’s take you back to the hotel. There we can talk about what the doc said.” Cosima patted Katja’s back, offering as much comfort as she could. The two women walked back to the car where they headed to Kaja’s hotel.  
After Cosima left Katja, she went to the beach to practice her street magic skills. At night when Delphine arrived they cuddled on the couch and watched movies ‘til Cosima fell asleep on Delphine’s shoulder. Delphine removed her glasses and covered her with a blanket, kissed her gently on the forehead and switched off the TV.  
Delphine was playing with fire, making deals with the devil and offering her heart to an angel. There was no going back now. The wheel of fate kept spinning, and she had to keep playing the game, the possibilities were already written, and she cannot escape.  
The magician once gambled with a German and she lost. She was back in the game now, and giving her trust to a French. This time the stakes are higher, will the girl with dreads be able to endure what is to come? Was the blonde meant for the magician? Was the magician in the destiny of the immunologist? More questions come every day, more answers to be awaited. I promise you that all will be revealed in time, but for now… That is a story for another day.


	10. Chapter 10

Cosima opened her eyes slowly. The sunlight gently filtered in through the curtains; she noticed she was on the couch, which meant she had fallen asleep when she and Delphine were watching TV last night. She squinted, trying to see where her glasses were. When she finally found them on the kitchen counter she put them on. In that moment Sarah came out of her room.  
“Good morning dork, how was last night with your scientist?”  
“Hey you punk rock ho. Last night was awesome, we watched TV. You, on the other hand, seem to have gotten laid.” Cosima responded, smirking widely.   
“Ha! What are you talking about? I went straight to bed, ya idiot.” Sarah said, putting her hands inside her hoodie pockets.  
“Oh come on, don’t be such a bitch. Spill it, what are you hiding under that hoodie?” Cosima stepped closer to Sarah.  
“Relax mate, nothing happened, yeah?” Sarah was being pretty coy, which raised Cosima’s suspicions.  
“You want a cuppa?” Sarah asked, trying to change the subject.  
“Sure, in the meantime I’ll take a shower." Cosima started to walk but not to the bathroom, instead she went towards Sarah, who was distracted and when she was close enough she lifted her hoodie.  
“Bloody hell Cosima, why you have to be so fucking curious, shit.” Sarah’s back was all scraped and bruised.  
“Dude what the hell happened? You look like shit, who was it? That Paul guy?”  
“That’s none of your business," Sarah said, now pissed.  
“Oh, so you have the right to butt in in my life but I can’t do anything to yours? You know what? I don’t care." Cosima was walking angrily towards to her room when Sarah grabbed her by the arm.  
“Look Cos, shit, I’m sorry. Really, it's no big deal. Besides she didn’t hurt me, things just got rough, yeah? And if I am a bitch with your French scientist it's only because I don’t trust her, but if you do that's fine by me." Cosima looked Sarah in the eyes, the exact same eyes she had, and hugged her tightly. Sarah hugged her back, just as closely. Those moments between the two of them were very special. They could endure whatever happened when they were like this together, being able to rely on one another.  
“I love you asshole,” Cosima said.  
“I love you too, meathead.” Sarah retorted.  
Cosima took her shower and got ready to go to the library to finish her research. Her new project was almost complete, and she was itching to test it. She took her precious notebook from the bookshelf and put it in her bag.  
“Hey, I’m going to the library; call me if something comes up.” Cosima yelled to Sarah, who was in the kitchen.  
“Alright, I’ll let you know when Ray calls with the schedule for the Childs party,” Sarah muttered.  
Cosima left the apartment and stopped in the parking lot, where were the damned car keys? While she looked for them in her huge bag, a realization came to mind. “The fuck? Ray? Don’t you mean Rachel? Oh no please tell me you didn’t bang the robot bitch Sarah, jesus fucking christ. That has to be it. And she complains about Delphine? Really?!” Finally, she found the keys and got into the car. She had a lot of work to do, and she couldn’t let herself be distracted by her twin’s love adventures.

In the library she spent most of the time making diagrams and plans for what was going to be her new repertoire. She was really excited about this. She thought it was interesting enough to make a buzz and maybe get the attention of people in the magic business to offer her the opportunity she was looking for. If only she got a chance... Maybe she was never going to make it out of SF, maybe she was stuck here forever. Or, what if she accepted Leekie’s proposal? Even though she disliked the old creep, he had the resources, she was sure of it, yet she felt that if she took his offer she would be selling her soul to the devil. Delphine admired the guy, and maybe she was just being super paranoid about it all.  
Delphine, and the immunologist popped up in her thoughts again. She was getting used to that. She was like a freaking horny teenager thinking about her, 24/7. The things she wanted to do with her were way beyond even any R rated shit, but still she knew she had to be patient. Delphine was new to girl on girl action, and she didn’t want to seem too eager or to make her feel pressured, but she was desperate to do lots of things to her under the sheets. She was craving those lips again, her hands over her body and that tongue of hers, holy crap.

Her phone started to vibrate, she checked the screen and saw a text from Delphine. She smiled immediately. She apparently wanted to go out. Cosima replied to the text, suggesting that they go for ice cream. The response came fast, and Delphine agreed to meet her at the time and place Cosima suggested. Cosima was feeling kinky, so she sent a suggestive message to Delphine to see her reaction, carefully testing the waters. The reply came a minute later, Cosima had to cover her mouth to avoid making too much noise, her laughter trying to burst out. Delphine was pretty embarrassed according to her text. Cosima made a mental image of her cheeks turning pink, how cute she must be right now. Damn, she was so fucking aroused right now. Cosima texted her back promising to behave during their date, because it was a date, their first real date. She couldn’t stop smiling at the idea of dating with Delphine. With that thought, she resumed her work on her design.  
___________________  
Delphine was more than excited to go out with Cosima, just the two of them, no scary twin sister and no Aldous, just me and my girl. She could pretend that everything was perfect for a day. She was good at pretending, she realized that, but the way things developed between her and Cosima were complex. She started this friendship with her for the wrong reasons, but now she could make this things right between them. She could show her how much she meant to her. She took her phone and made a call.  
“Hello? Yes, I would like to make a reservation…”

That afternoon Delphine waited for Cosima at the ice cream shop. No wonder her magician was late, tardiness was one of her most interesting features. After 10 minutes of waiting, Cosima arrived.  
“Bonjour Cosima, you made it.” Delphine took her hand.  
“Yeah, I wouldn’t miss this for anything in the world!" Cosima interlaced her fingers with Delphine. Their hands fit perfectly into each other, and the closeness of their bodies sent warmth through them.   
They both entered the shop and ordered; they sat at one of the tables in the corner and talked animatedly.  
“How is your new trick progressing?” Delphine asked, savoring her chocolate chip ice cream.  
“I’m almost done with the design. It looks complex, but I think the illusion is going to be awesome.” Cosima was eating her usual, an eskimo pie.  
“I can’t wait to see you performing again ma chérie. You just have a sort of presence that makes people want to see you do your tricks.”  
“Oh trust me, I have lots of tricks up my sleeves." Cosima grinned at Delphine, who bit her lip at the innuendo.  
“Yo! Niehaus, whassup?” A man approached the table where they were seating.  
“Donnie, you S.O.B!” Cosima stood up and greeted the man.  
“Delphine, this is Donnie, an old friend." Delphine clasped the man’s hand.  
“Dude, that shit you did was off tha hook!" Donnie said in awe.  
“Damn right!” Cosima exclaimed and added “What brings you back to The City?”  
“Business, I’m here for a few days.”  
“I see, it was good to see you though man."  
“You too Niehaus, say hi to that crazy biatch twin of yours for me.”  
Donnie went to the counter to make his order when Cosima called his name.  
“Hey, you forgetting something Donnie?” she showed him a wallet. Donnie searched through his pockets.  
“Ha ha, very funny Niehaus.” Donnie took back his wallet. “Watch out for this girl! She might steal from you and you won’t even notice!” He joked with Delphine.  
What he didn’t know was that he hit home with that remark. Cosima had already stolen from Delphine. She had stolen her heart. Delphine was certain of that.  
“You have very interesting friends," Delphine said. She was done with her ice cream.  
“Yeah, Donnie and I have been tight since high school, though I don’t have many friends. The few I do have are hella rad, though.”

“Oui, c'est vrai. Now would you do me the honor to come with me? I have a surprise for you, ma petite illusionniste.”  
The two women arrived at a very nice hotel. Cosima was surprised because of all the things she could have planned, she did not expect to come to fancy hotel. Not that she really minded, but still, she was bewildered.  
Delphine was very anxious to give Cosima her gift. She had been looking for something that symbolized their relationship, so she went to many a jewelry shop to specially buy her gift. She knew how much Cosima loved accessories, so she thought of her when she saw this precise adornment, she had safely stored it in her purse.  
Delphine went to the counter and gave her info, and a few minutes later she had her card key. She took Cosima’s hand and led her to the lift.  
“Alright ma chérie, here it is.” Delphine inserted the card into the door handle until the sensor turned green and a click was heard. Delphine pushed the door open and let Cosima in.

“Wow, this is a very fancy room.” Cosima marveled at the huge suite. The room smelled pleasantly of flowers, there were candles everywhere, and the view was breathtaking. She went to the balcony and she inhaled and exhaled slowly, closing her eyes in an attempt to seal the memory in her mind. Delphine held her from behind, her head resting on Cosima’s shoulder.  
“This is incredible, Delphine, you didn’t have to do this.” Cosima put her hands over Delphine’s.  
“I didn’t have to, but I wanted to. You deserve this and so much more, Cosima. You have no idea how much you have changed me, and I really wanted to have a moment alone with you." Delphine kissed Cosima’s cheek. “Come inside, we have wine and truffles; I think you might like them as much as eskimo pies.”  
“Hmmm, you wanna bet?” Cosima turned around and kissed her soundly. “Brat!”  
They both entered and sat at a table that was lit with candles, the truffles on a platter and the bottle of wine inside a bucket filled with ice. Cosima took a truffle and put it in her mouth, biting it. Delphine waited patiently for her response.  
“It’s really good, but I think eskimo pies win.” She grinned broadly.   
“You cheeky girl, what am I going to do with you?” Delphine filled her and Cosima’s glasses with wine and took a sip.  
“I have some ideas,” Cosima muttered and drank, trying to remain calm.  
The two women were deep in conversation, giggling and sharing childhood stories, talking about their families and most embarrassing moments.  
“I bought you a little something, because I want you to be my girl.” Delphine took out a box and gave it to Cosima.  
“Shit, I mean… Damn. It's beautiful, Delphine. A dolphin and a puppy, how appropriate.” Cosima was smiling.  
“Oui, how could I forget that you relate me to a puppy? But there is also my name, which means dolphin. For me, I picked up this." She showed her the other bracelet, this one had stars and planets.  
“The cosmos. But I really think you need to add this.” From her pocket, Cosima pulled the trick coin she always carried and inserted it into the bracelet. ”There.”  
“Merci, Cosima” said Delphine.  
“So I'm your girl and you're mine, that’s hella cool. ” They laughed in unison.  
Delphine caressed Cosima’s cheek, Cosima’s eyes were bright with desire, and she was holding back, Delphine noticed. Cosima was letting her make the decision. That was her magician, kind and respectful. Delphine didn’t even think twice about it and kissed her, softly at first, invitingly, provokingly, but then it turned into a fierce kiss. They stood up and joined their lips again, hands everywhere, the clothes getting in way of contact. They started to move to the bedroom, throwing pieces of clothing aside with each step of the way.  
Once they reached the bed, Cosima broke the kiss, both she and Delphine breathing heavily. She fixed her eyes on Delphine, making sure that it was okay to go on. Delphine gave her a small kiss on the tip of her nose and removed her glasses, put them on the bedside table and kissed her on the lips. Cosima took charge immediately, she removed Delphine’s garments until all it was left were her underwear. Cosima pushed her gently into the bed and straddled her.

“This is better than eskimo pies.” Cosima trailed kisses on her neck and collarbone. She kept going slowly, tracing each curve of skin with her fingers, inch by inch. She was going to memorize her body and she was hasty to learn what Delphine liked and disliked. Cosima was about to do magic with her tonight.  
Delphine relaxed under Cosima’s touch, but she was still a bit nervous. She couldn’t remember when was the last time she felt like this, especially when it was her first time with a girl. Cosima was spreading kisses and caresses all over her body, and Delphine released a quiet moan. Cosima smirked and continued working on her, Delphine arched her back to give her a better access, Cosima took the hint and bit softly at her porcelain skin.  
“I’m gonna take good care of you,” Cosima said before going under the sheets “Shit, you are so fucking ready.” Cosima gulped, she was going to revel in Delphine but more than anything, she wanted Delphine to enjoy herself and feel comfortable. Cosima was going to take all the time in the world. She could be patient, and she was going to pleasure Delphine until she begged for mercy,  
And beg she did. Delphine called for God, cursed like hell in French and screamed Cosima’s name several times until Delphine was sweaty and out of breath. Cosima laid beside her holding her hand and offered a warm smile.  
“You okay?” asked Cosima.  
“Oui, merde, this was, wow...” Delphine was speechless.  
“Thank you. You can call me now sex goddess.” Cosima grinned and Delphine laughed.  
“I want you to feel good too mon amour, will you tell me what to do?” Delphine was dead serious; she really wanted to give back what the petite dreadlocked magician gave to her tonight.  
“No need to rush it Delphine, I am truly pleased, trust me.”  
“I am a very fast learner.” And with that Delphine removed her bra. Cosima’s eyes grew wide and her mouth went dry. “That’s no fair...” Cosima mumbled. This time Delphine topped, and she showed Cosima just how fast a learner she was.

The night was young and our couple enjoyed each other, trust was thrust upon and love was born. Too bad this couldn’t and wouldn’t last, not when Delphine remembered her task. Within the mess of a room she found a notebook, she peeked while the magician slept and she gasped a single, shocked merde. All the magic, all the tricks, all the life of her love was written in there. She gasped in horror, the source of her possible betrayal was in her hands. What was she going to do? Was she going to obey or was she going to defect? Shit, more questions and it is late, but for now let's let them sleep. Good night Cosima, bonne nuit Delphine. The rest is a story for another day.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning Delphine woke up before Cosima. She had trouble falling asleep after she saw the notebook. All of Cosima’s main tricks were written there, from the early development of the trick until it was perfected, all accompanied by copious notes describing even more ideas and variations. Aldous would like to know about that, the pressure to make Cosima accept his proposal hung around her like a burden. Aldous was starting to get impatient and she was fearful of his reaction if she didn’t deliver. She knew he always got what he wanted.

She looked to her left, where Cosima was sound asleep. She was beautiful; she looked so cute, peaceful. Cosima’s hand was over Delphine’s bare abdomen, spreading her hand over the warmth and holding her. Delphine now was remorseful, thinking about the wonderful night they had spent together embracing the other’s body, entangling between the sheets, savoring the moment and learning from each other. The way Cosima looked at her like she was the most precious thing in the world; not even Aldous saw her like Cosima did. If only she knew what she was really doing, if she knew the truth of her initial intention. Merde, I don’t deserve this happiness.  
She had to cut ties with Aldous. That was the right thing to do, she couldn’t keep doing this, not to her magician. She felt dirty and that was the truth. Tears started to fall, and she started to sob, which woke Cosima up.

“Hey, you okay?”  
Merde!, what do I say to her, that I feel like crap for lying to her and I feel guilt?  
“I cry after sex with boys too.” More lies.  
“Oh poor you.” Cosima rolled her eyes. “If it were later I would have suggested eskimo pies, but instead I’ll order room service, or I can eat certain French for breakfast. I totes support the second option, by the way.” Cosima kissed Delphine, at first slowly, but then she slid her tongue inside, and Delphine opened more for her. She released a soft moan. Cosima’s hand cupped her breasts, and moved her kissing to her neck, and lovingly kissed and bit her. But Delphine was a mess, she couldn’t stop thinking about Aldous and all the crap she had done.  
“S'il vous plaît arrêter, Cosima! I mean stop, you are getting us food, remember?” Cosima sighed.  
“Yeah, so no French breakfast for me then.” She pecked Delphine on the lips and put on a robe. Putting on her glasses, she picked up the phone.  
“I’ll take a shower first chérie, order whatever you want.” Delphine went straight to the shower. Though she felt like cleaning her soul, she could only settle for cleaning her body at this point.  
__________________  
After Cosima ordered she went to the living room and marveled at the mess. Clothing had been thrown everywhere, the table was a disaster with wine spilled on the floor, she noticed that both her bag and her notebook were on the floor. She picked it up and put it inside her bag, she had to be more careful with it, losing it or accidentally damaging it would certainly be a problem.  
Her cellphone started to ring; she took it out from her bag and pressed the talk button.  
“Hey Sarah.”  
“Where the hell are you? You didn’t sleep here last night.”  
“Chill Sarah, I’m with Delphine, geez.”  
“Bloody hell, you don’t listen, do you!?”  
“Not going to fight you Sarah, but what’s up?”  
“Right, we have to go to LA in 4 days for the Childs party event, remember?”  
“Shit that’s too soon, what the hell was Rachel doing that she couldn’t organize this better? Oh don’t answer that, you two frick fracked, that’s why, isn’t it?”  
“…”  
“Sarah?”  
“Yeah, I’m here, uh, just get ready, yeah?” She cut the call.  
“Sarah, wait!” ...Shit. Great Cos, you pissed her off again.  
Someone knocked on the door, which meant that breakfast had arrived. Cosima took care of it and set the table; Delphine was already dressed when she came to the living room a couple of minutes later.  
“Hey, breakfast’s here, come.” Cosima extended her hand, inviting Delphine to join her. Delphine took her by the hand and pulled her in for a hug.  
“You are the most amazing girl I could have ever met,” said Delphine.  
“Nah, I’m the lucky one. Let’s eat or this is going to get cold.”  
The girls sat and ate, talking and joking playfully. It was a beautiful morning to be with someone special. Cosima was all smiles, she didn’t remember the last time she was this happy. She was always cautious with her partners, not giving too much, but with Delphine she felt she could be an open book and she would understand and not judge her or mock her for chasing the far-fetched dream of being a magician. Even Katja told her that the magic business was ridiculous, that it was a nice hobby, but that she could do something more profitable.

“You know, it’s really really good to finally meet someone who gets it. Who gets me.” Delphine said.  
“Yeah, ditto, obvs.” Cosima holds Delphine’s hand, her thumb stroking her hand softly, the contact extremely intimate. This is the kind of connection they were talking about, they did not needed words to understand each other. Instead, their gestures and expressions were enough. And that’s how Cosima knew something was bothering Delphine. She was being coy, but why? Did she take it too far last night? Shit did I break her apart? Fuck, tell me I was gentle please. Cosima you horny idiot, what if you hurt her?  
“Oh Delphine? About last night, eh, did you, did you, er... Are you okay?” Cosima blushed.  
Delphine frowned, not quite getting what she was really asking about “Oui, I am fine ma chérie.”  
“Yeah, I mean, you know, did you like it?” Cosima mumbled.  
“…eh? AH!” Delphine laughed “Oh ma petite illusionniste, I liked it very much, you did great. I have to admit that I was a little bit nervous but you are very smooth. Also it was quite revealing, I learned quite a lot about my own pleasure. You did a very good job doing me.”  
Cosima was grinning like a fool. Nailed it, you are a sex goddess Niehaus, mental high five.  
“Anyway, after you finish at work would you like to come over later and help me with some magic stuff? Not the crazy type, in case you were wondering.” Cosima winked.  
“You are a very mischievous girl, I see. And of course I’ll help you!”  
“Cool. Then I’ll meet you at my apartment at 5.”

They finished eating. Cosima took a quick shower and they then picked up the few things they had brought with them. Both were wearing their respective bracelets. Their feelings for each other were overwhelming. Their senses so attuned to the other, what bliss to be in love. The two of them held hands as they left the hotel, and they obviously only had eyes for each other. How good it felt to be like this, they both thought. They kissed goodbye and each went on with their day.  
Cosima was finishing packing for the trip to LA. It was important that she made a good show, lots of people with money would be at that party. Top athletes, celebrities, who knows. It was the perfect opportunity to get her name out into the world.  
Someone knocked on the door. “I’ll get it,” Sarah said. When she opened it, she saw Delphine.  
“Bonjour Sarah, is Cosima here?”  
“Hey frenchie, she’s inside her room.” Sarah responded dryly.  
Delphine left her bag on the kitchen table and walked towards Cosima’s room. She knocked before striding in.  
“Hello Cosima.” Delphine smiled at the first sight of her.  
“Hey Delphine, shit I didn’t know it was already 5. I’ll be done with this in a moment, so hold on, okay?”  
“So, this is your room.” Delphine took a look at the spacious bedroom, piled with books and magazines, all related to magic. Clothing was tossed haphazardly about on the floor, bags thrown everywhere, it looked kind of disastrous compared to Delphine’s more orderly style. Yet it was fitting to her magician’s personality, of course she would be a mess. Cosima’s mind was full of incredible ideas, sometimes too crazy to be real, but she was an illusionist, she was going to make sure her vision became real, therefore the chaotic environment, and lack of care for it’s appearance.

“All right, my luggage is ready. Come here.” Delphine obeyed her call. Delphine hugged her and held her between her arms; Cosima embraced her, her head resting on her chest.  
“Your heart is beating quite fast,” Cosima remarked.  
“That’s all you chérie, you are responsible for my erratic heartbeat.” Delphine held her chin and kissed her.  
“So I’m going to practice a couple of tricks at the beach, and I think you can be of great assistance, but first we need to go pick up Darwin.” Cosima explained.  
“And how I am supposed to help? I know nothing of what you do.”  
“Don’t worry, you are going to be my distraction. Everybody will see how hot you are and then they’re not going to pay me as much attention, which will give me enough time to do all the illusions that I need to do.”  
Delphine laughed. “Non, actually it’s the contrary, you are distracting enough the way you are.”  
“You know, I’m leaving for LA tomorrow. I have to perform at a party and I wish you could join me but I know you have plenty to do. Spend the night with me, Delphine?”  
“And who is using puppy eyes now? How can I say no to such a request?”  
Cosima smiled in utter satisfaction and kissed Delphine, taking her time exploring her lips, her jawline, and the crook of her neck, Delphine’s hands roaming Cosima’s hips.  
“Oi!” Sarah cleared her throat, the two women split apart, mildly embarrassed.  
“Sorry to interrupt but I’m going to Scott’s, I need the bloody notebook.”  
“Ah yeah, sure, it’s right here.” Cosima went to her bookshelf and pulled out the magic notebook. Cosima handed it to her twin. Delphine took a mental note of where she kept it.  
“It’s already marked where he should look for the box model.”  
“Got it, call me if you need me.” Sarah glanced menacingly at Delphine before turning around and leaving them alone.  
“Your twin is very protective of you, isn’t she? She looks like she is going to slit my throat any second now.” Delphine put her hands in her jeans pockets and walked casually towards the living room. Cosima followed her.

“Yeah, she feels that she needs to protect me to make up for all the years we spent apart. You know, I wasn’t very popular when I was a kid, sometimes the other kids messed with me. Sarah tried her best to comfort me, but what could she do from London?”  
Delphine hugged the smaller girl tightly. How lonely and difficult it must have been for her while she was growing up. She kissed the top of her head. “You must have had to be very brave. You still are, and I’m glad you have a sister like Sarah. Please know that you have me to keep you safe as well, chérie.”  
“Thanks Delphine, aaaaaaand we better hurry up, my mom is probably getting tired of waiting.”  
They left the apartment and went to pick up Darwin.  
“Ok boy, be nice with Delphine!” Cosima put the leash on Darwin and handed it to Delphine. Darwin was wiggling his tail, licking Delphine’s hands. Delphine was giggling at Darwin’s way of showing of affection.  
“You are very lovely, Darwin.” Delphine said. Darwin barked, responding happily.  
“Hey Darwin, don’t you dare and try to steal my gir!l” Cosima petted Darwin’s head and winked at Delphine.  
Cosima started to walk around, playing with a coin as per usual, looking for a good crowd to perform to. She finally spotted a couple of girls in a chattery cluster. Delphine kept her distance just to avoid disturbing her.  
“Hey ladies? Excuse me, do you have a moment? I wanna show you something cool really quickly.” Once she got the attention of the girls, she showed them her arm.  
“As you can see I have nothing here, right? I’m gonna show you how to resist pain. By any chance do you have a pen that I can borrow?”  
None of the girls were carrying one, so she asked Delphine instead. “Excuse me beautiful lady, do you have a pen?”  
“Yes, wait a second.” Delphine raised her eyebrows in curiousity, but she handed her pen to Cosima.  
“Thank you. Okay, young lady, can you check this pen for me. Is it a normal pen?”  
“Yeah, it seems okay.” The girl said.  
“Alright, I’m gonna take the ink tube and push it through my arm, but first things first. I need to disinfect the area.” Cosima took out a bottle of disinfectant out of her pocket and covered her arm.  
“Watch.” Cosima took the ink tube and pinched her skin to make sure everybody saw that there was nothing weird about it, and then she folded her arm a bit and made a face of nervousness. She slowly released her breath to show how jittery she was feeling.  
“Okay, I think I’m ready.” She pushed the ink tube in and lowered her arm so everybody could see the ink tube stuck through.  
“Ew! Ew ew eeewww!” One girl looked away in disgust.  
“That is disgusting, how!?” Another girl exclaimed.  
They could clearly see how Cosima pushed the pen in and out again and again, causing some discomfort within the audience.  
“Like I said, it doesn’t hurt much. Really, it’s a piece of cake.” She took out the ink tube and wiped her arm down with a cloth to clean the area.  
“See? It’s already healed, check it out.” Cosima showed them again her arm. One of the girls took it and inspected it further.  
“Holy shit, that’s like, super weird!”  
“Thank you ladies, have a nice day!” Cosima kept walking to find more people to entertain. Delphine followed alongside her.  
“Chérie, how did you do that?” Delphine was really confused.  
“Oh hey, here is your pen, thanks babe.” She gave back the pen to Delphine.  
“And don’t worry, I’ll explain to you when we get back to my apartment.” Cosima was beaming with happiness. She was doing what she loved, and had the company of the girl she really liked too. It was an absolutely perfect day.  
“ ‘Scuse me dude, my name is Cosima, what’s your name?” Cosima extended her hand to the stranger.  
“Hi, I’m Colin.”  
“Nice to meet ya, Colin. Do you like cards?” Cosima pulled out her deck of cards and held them out in front of the spectator.  
“I want you take a look at one card inside this deck, okay? Not the bottom one.” She riffled the deck of cards super quick.  
“Did you see anything? No? Huh. Let’s do it slower.” She riffled the deck of cards again more slowly.  
“Did you see one? Hey, don’t say it yet, tell what you saw to this girl right next you. I don’t want to hear it out loud just yet.” Colin told his card to the woman beside him with the green hoodie.  
“Okay, let me concentrate for a sec.” Cosima showed Colin the ace of spades.  
“I know this isn’t your card, just hold your card in your mind, visualize it right here.” With her index finger, Cosima snapped the card and BAM, the queen of hearts appeared instantaneously.  
“Fuck!” Colin exclaimed and clapped.  
“I assume this was your card, huh? Miss?”  
“Так, це було карту. Eh, yes, that vas kartu.” WOOF! WOOF! Darwin started to bark at the woman.  
“Thanks dude, have a nice day!” Cosima kneeled to pet Darwin.  
“Hey buddy, chill, it’s okay. Well, he’s getting a little riled up now, we should take him back.” Cosima laced her fingers with Delphine’s and together they walked back to the car. They stopped at Cosima’s mother’s house to return Darwin, and then headed back to Cosima’s loft.  
They walked to the apartment entrance and stood on the sidewalk before going in.  
“I’m really happy that you’re going to staying with me tonight.” Cosima leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss Delphine.  
“Oui, me too, though Sarah might get mad if she sees me again.” Delphine gently cradled Cosima’s face with her palm. This time Delphine leaned in and kissed her slowly.  
“Sarah gonna have to accept you sooner or later. You’ll see, soon she’ll love you just as much as…” Shit. Too late now Cos, you said it first. “…as much as I do” Cosima concluded.  
Delphine’s insides suddenly flared with a sense of warmth. The words echoed happily in her mind, and she knew that she was not deserving of such love, but still, it made her heart jump with happiness. She smiled and kissed her senseless, Cosima responding eagerly.  
Cosima took her hand and pulled her inside the apartment, where they could continue their makeout session in the safety of Cosima’s bedroom.   
The lovers were going to have lots of fun. That at least, I can guarantee you of, dear friend. Tonight was going to get hot, but wait, do you hear that? No? Let’s get closer, then.  
______________  
RING RING  
“це Ало”  
“Where are you?”  
“Outside of the dreadlocked girl’s apartment, vhat do you vant me to do?”  
“Is the blonde with her?”  
“Da. They are having much fun Mister Leekie, I can see them through my scope very clearly, I can shoot them if you vant”  
“NO! Not yet Helena”  
Destiny always seems have a surprise up its sleeve. This chess game was quickly becoming more intense than ever. The magician made her move, she used her Queen to strike, and now Leekie was going to take his turn, a bishop was on sight, ready to make the kill on the Queen, but strategy is everything in chess. Tell me Aldous, what is going to be your next play? For now we will have to wait, because that is a story for another day.


	12. Chapter 12

The next day Cosima left for Los Angeles with her twin. They were heading to the house of Olympic medalist Elizabeth Childs, who was hosting a party and had hired Cosima to perform. The main reason why they accepted was really because they needed the money, after all they had to pay the bills. There was no magic power to avoid responsibility.  
“Could you shut off the bloody phone already?” Sarah complained to her sister.

Cosima rolled her eyes and kept talking with her girlfriend. “Yeah, we're going to Miss Childs' house. As soon as I get settled I’ll skype with you.”  
Sarah preferred to ignore Cosima and instead focus her attention on the pending documents she had to check before sending them to Rachel Duncan, her friend with benefits and Cosima’s promoter.

“Yeah, I’ll be back as soon as I can. Please take care of Katja for me?” Cosima couldn’t help that she still cared for her ex-lover. She was a lover, not a fighter, and even though things didn't work out with Katja, she was still worried about her health issues.  
Cosima ended the call and stared at her twin. “God Sarah, you need to chill out.”  
Sarah looked back at her sister, far from happy. “Chill? I'm telling you our situation and you're not paying attention. If you're not texting her, then you're calling the frenchie. You’ve got to focus, Cos. ”  
“Yeah, yeah I got it, don't worry.” Cosima responded breezily, dismissing Sarah’s comment.  
After a 45 minute drive they reached Elizabeth Child’s house in Beverly Hills. Both took their baggage and walked up to the main gate. Sarah rang the bell and waited semi-patiently for the door to swing open.  
“Yes? Can I help you?” A man with dark skin opened the door.  
“Hey! I’m Cosima Niehaus, and this is my sister Sarah Manning. Ms. Childs hired me.”  
“Oh right, I’m Arthur Bell, but call me Art. I’m Beth’s assistant, please come in. ” Art extended his hand to greet the two sisters.  
“So, Art, can you explain us what is exactly what Miss Childs want me to do? She didn’t really explain anything very clearly to my promoter.”  
“Well, you'll have to talk with her personally. Please, allow me to show you your room.” Art guided them up a series of stairs and stopped at one of the rooms on the upper floor of the house.

“Here it is, please make yourself at home and Beth will come see you herself in a second.” Art entered the room and showed them their beds, bathroom and mini fridge, when suddenly another girl entered the room.  
“Hey dipshit, here you are! Oh, you arrived.” The girl went quickly to where Cosima and Sarah stood, grabbing Cosima’s hand and shaking vigorously.  
“Nice to meet you, I’m Beth Childs,” The girl said, smiling.  
“Hi, nice meeting you!” Cosima replied.  
“Art, can you please go and pick Ali up from the airport? I was supposed to be there but I want to have this shit ready. And hurry up, you know how she is. She's probably starting to freak out already.”  
“You got it," Art said before leaving the girls alone.  
“Anyway, thanks for coming. You see, I saw you on Mrs. S show like a month ago, and I liked what you did.”  
“Thanks. So, what exactly do you want me to do?” Cosima asked, furrowing her brow.  
“I'm throwing this party as a distraction. You see, I want to propose to my girlfriend, but she’s a complete control freak, so I had to think something that she could do while I prepared something special for her.”  
“Sounds cool to me,” Cosima said.  
“Right. So, during the party I want you to do your usual repertoire, but at the end, I want you to do a trick with Ali where you give her my ring,” the brunette said.  
“Dude, that’s complex.” Cosima stood silent for a minute, thinking over what she could do to accomplish the wish of her client.  
“Can you do it?” Beth asked pleadingly.  
“Sure dude, you leave that in my hands.” Cosima gave her a cocky smile.  
“What’s your girl’s name? Oh, and you can share some stories for the show, that would be awesome.”  
“Alison Hendrix. We met in Canada a long time ago,” Beth said with a dreamy smile.  
“Woah, the actress? She was also there that day during the show, yeah?” Sarah asked.  
“Exactly, I don’t know if that was fate or whatever, I just knew that you could help me do this thing when I saw you there.” Beth then explained to the sisters her background with the actress and how they developed their relationship.  
They discussed the plans for the party and how Cosima was going to include Alison in her show to allow Beth the opportunity to pop the question. This was going to be really fun, and the magician was more than excited to help a young couple in love to start living their life together, just like she wished she could do with Delphine.  
_________________  
“This antibody’s receptors are showing a weird behavior. I’m not sure if this is related to your disease but at least it is something that might provide more information about your particular case, Miss Obinger.” Delphine explained to the German standing beside her, looking paler than ever.  
“At least is something new, Dr. Cormier. Danke schön.” Katja looked into the blonde’s eyes.  
“Something wrong, Miss Obinger?” Delphine asked with some worry.  
“Your eyes are brighter, so full of life doctor, it has to do with Cosima, ist es nicht?”  
Delphine’s cheeks turned pink. “No need to answer, that is very clear,” Katja said and she continued, “You are lucky to have her. Allow me to say this doctor, she seems really very happy, more than when we were together, which pleases me very much.”  
“She is a wonderful person. I adore how she gets shy in front of people when she is with me, it’s very cute.” Delphine sounded too conceited but she didn’t care, she was making sure Katja understood that Cosima belonged to her.  
“A word of advice, doctor? Whatever happens between you, don’t lie to her. I learned that lesson the hard way. She will give you her all and try to please you and make you happy, that’s how she is, but be honest with her. She can take it, she is strong enough. Too bad I didn’t realize that sooner.” Katja said bitterly, a sad smile across her face.  
“Merci, Miss Obinger. I will test the marker for these antibodies of yours and I’ll let you know if we find more information.” Delphine offered her hand to the redhead.  
She shook it graciously. “Danke, and call me Katja. I think we can be rid of formalities at this point.”  
“Have a nice day, Katja” Delphine smiled at the woman before she left her to her work.

Even if there was good in the advice that Katja said to Delphine, there was one word that resonated in her head. LIE. Everything so far was a lie, except the fact that she was really in love. How did this happened? Why did she allow this situation to get this far , and let it become so utterly complicated? She needed to come clean with Aldous. She refused to keep lying to her magician; she was going to tell her the truth. The phone rang vibrantly, announcing that he was calling. Speak of the devil, she thought.  
“How things are going, Delphine?” That voice made her skin crawl.  
“We should meet and discuss this, Aldous.”  
“Very well, the usual-“  
“Wait!” Delphine interrupted, and she gulped hesitantly before speaking again. “There is a restaurant that I would like to try, this might be the chance to do it. I’ll send you the address,” she said, attempting to be as casual as she possibly could.  
“See you at night.” With that, he closed the call.

Delphine exhaled in relief. She did not want to meet him at a hotel ever again, not when she knew the feeling of Cosima’s hands over her skin. He was not going to touch her again. Tonight, she was going to cut her ties with Aldous.  
After she finished her work, Delphine went home. She needed to clearly think through what she was going to do. She bathed in her tub and stayed there for a bit, thinking about what was she going to say, how Aldous was going to react, all the possibilities of their meeting that she could think of.  
She dressed up in a plain ensemble, not her usual fancy dresses and her makeup was simple as well. She did not want his attention, not sexually, at least.  
She went downs the stairs where she met with her aunt and cousin, who were having dinner.  
“Nous laissant à nouveau nièce?” Her aunt said teasingly.  
“It’s just a business dinner, auntie, don’t worry.”  
“She is probably going to see her boyfriend,” said Antoine.  
“Antoine! It is not like that!” Delphine defended.  
“Oh come on cousin, admit it. I heard you talking the other day with him, you were smoking outside and you said that you were going to miss him.” Antoine grinned.  
“You little brat, are you spying on me?” Delphine ruffled the young boy’s hair.  
“Well it’s kind of obvious something is going on Delphine, you didn’t come home to sleep a couple of days ago and you are smiling like a fool. We are not blind, ma chérie.” Her aunt added.  
“Fine, there is someone, but I am not seeing her today,” Delphine said bluntly.  
“Her? You did say her, right?” Her aunt furrowed her brows and waited for Delphine’s response, who simply nodded.  
“Just checking my dear, so when we are going to meet this lady of yours?” Her aunt was now more curious than ever. Delphine knew she had to tell them, or the interrogation was never going to end.  
“You kind of know her, in theory. Well, Antoine met her.”  
“SHIT! It’s her isn’t it? The magician?” Antoine was really excited now, and his blue eyes were wide in surprise.  
“You watch your language, young man!” her aunt scolded. “The magician? You mean the dreadlocked girl who is doing crazy magic all around San Francisco?”  
“Oui, that one.” Delphine couldn’t help but smile at the thought of her magician.  
“Maman, we have to invite her for dinner, please! Woah, my cousin is dating Cosima Niehaus, fuck my life!” Antoine stood up from the table and hugged Delphine.  
“Well done cousin, you’re dating the hottest magician out there. I can accept that, if it were somebody else I would be really pissed.”  
“Listen to me Antoine! You are going to watch your manners!” Her aunt was getting mad at her son, glaring at him with her motherly, but still pissed off face. Antoine just rolled his eyes.  
“Well, I have to go now, but I promise I’ll invite her for dinner Antoine. Now, go and finish your meal.” Delphine dropped a kiss on her cousin’s head and waved goodbye at her aunt. Now it was time to face another magician.   
Aldous Leekie.

The ride to the restaurant did not take long. She parked and went inside, asking at the counter about her table and waiting patiently after. She ordered a glass of wine to try to ease her nerves a bit. She had an extremely bad feeling about this. With the corner of her eye she caught him approaching her table and taking a seat.  
“Well Delphine, I hope things are going smoothly with Cosima.” He called the waiter and also ordered wine.  
“Things are going okay, Aldous.” Delphine reassured him.  
“Yes, I am sure of that, you are doing a splendid job.” He put on the table an envelope, Delphine eyeing him suspiciously, but taking the envelope and opening it.  
Pictures of her and Cosima on the beach; in her apartment; kissing; loving each other. Merde. She felt violated and sick.  
“You are tailing us? Why?!” Delphine asked in outrage.  
“I am just making sure that you are doing as instructed, but it seems that you are getting rather distracted.” He took a sip of his wine, smirking in victory.  
“I can’t do it Aldous, I won’t!” Delphine said defiantly.  
“I get she won’t accept my proposal, but you will get me her latest trick at least. I know you have access to her notebook, I want it and you will get it for me.”  
“What if I don’t?” Delphine looked him straight in his eyes, trying to look confident.  
“Delphine, have you forgot how you got to do research here? Should I make a call to Professor Legrand? After all, I am your greatest benefactor.”  
Delphine made a fist, her knuckles white from the pressure, her lips tight.  
“If I cut my donation, your research will be over in an instant, and you will be sent back to Paris. Then, what about your sweet aunt and cousin-”  
“Leave them out of this!” Delphine cut in.  
Aldous smiled in contempt. “You get the notebook and I will forgive your treason. You can continue working here, your family getting the aid they need, and you’ll be close to your beloved magician. I think it’s a good deal.”  
Delphine stood abruptly, jostling the table and looking down at him once more. “Once you have the notebook you won’t get near me or my family, comprenez-vous?” On her closing statement, she turned on her heel and stormed out of there.  
________________  
“And that, is how we are going to do this.” Cosima finished explaining her plan to Beth, who was pretty confused.  
“Eh? I’m not sure if I follow, Cosima.”  
“Don’t worry Beth, just write the cards and she will do the rest.” Sarah handed a small stack of cards to Beth, accompanied by a marker. She took them and wrote as instructed.  
“Like I said, the important thing here is that Alison is distracted so I can make the switch. Just stay cool dude. I got this.” Cosima reassured Beth.  
“Shite! Incoming!” Sarah spotted Art with Beth’s soon to be bride, Alison Hendrix.  
“Gimme that Beth!” Cosima grabbed the cards and put them in her pocket.  
The door opened and Art came in with the bags, Alison trailing behind.  
“Elizabeth Childs! I thought that you were going to… Oh, you have guests.” Alison stopped, and looked at the two women in Beth’s living room, her hand went to her chin, the other one across her body.  
“I’ve seen you before, haven’t I?” Alison looked at Cosima.  
“Yeah, I’m Cosima Niehaus. We met at Mrs. S’.” Cosima pushed her glasses up her nose.  
“Oh, you. I remember. And what are you doing here?”  
“I hired her, you know, to entertain the guests.” Beth walked towards Alison.  
“Who is organizing this party Beth?”  
“I know you have everything set up, Ali, but I like what she does. This isn’t going to ruin your plan, so just relax.” Beth took her hands and kissed them.  
“Okay you two, get a room.” Art intervened.  
“Shut up, dipshit!” Beth retorted.  
“Well, we have things to do for the reception, if you’ll excuse us.” Sarah said and discreetly motioned for Cosima to go with her. Cosima smiled and followed Sarah.  
“Damn, that Alison is too uptight. I have no clue what Beth sees in her.” Sarah commented while walking under the starry night.  
“Well, Sarah, you’re in no place to judge. I mean, if we look at your relationships I could name a certain robot bitch that you like to frequent, or maybe a certain muscled dude-”  
“Shut up Cos. What about you then sis, it seems to me that you have an international roster. First a German, now the French. What’s next, an Australian?” Sarah teased.  
“There is no next idiot, she’s the one.” Cosima smiled.  
“What? You’re kidding me, right? Come on Cos, you barely know frenchie. She can’t be the one. That’s ridiculous, how do you even know for sure?” Sarah put her hands inside her leather jacket and stopped to look at her twin seriously.  
“I don’t know, Sarah. I just feel it in my gut. I’ve never fallen so fast and hard for someone. Trust me that this took me by surprise as well, but you have no idea how she makes me feel. It’s totes magic.”  
“It’s bullshit, that’s what it totes is. Cos, you never listen to me, do you?” Sarah continued walking.  
“Can you please tell me the day you find someone suitable for me sis, because so far no one seems to meet your standards.” Sarah got closer to Cosima and swung her arm onto Cosima’s shoulder.  
“You’re my sister you big dork, no one will ever meet my standards. No one’s ever gonna be good enough for you, get used to it.” Cosima bumped Sarah with her shoulder and smiled.

The bond between the sisters was something that no one could ever break. Destiny made sure of that, but what happens when a sexy scientist gets into the mix? Sarah would do anything for her twin, just like Cosima would do the same for her. But with Delphine in the middle, could things ever be completely okay between them? Cosima will have to choose between her two loves, there are no in betweens, no halfway meeting points in this sick game we call life. Fate was ensuring that things weren’t easy for the magician. Betrayal was just around the corner, and her blind trust was going to make her pay dearly. What’s to happen now that the cards are dealt on the table? Will Delphine really steal the notebook from the person that changed her forever? More goddamned questions to be solved and answered, but that is a story for another day.


	13. Chapter 13

The day for the party finally arrived, after many tense, anxious hours of waiting. Cosima was in her bedroom, adjusting her red jacket. As usual, she was playing with a coin in her hand, trying to relax and focus her mind. She took her job very seriously. It didn’t matter if it was a big show or a small private one, she always strove to impress, and today was no exception. People with money would see her and Sarah had a good eye to select the best candidates to offer her business cards and promote her name among the big shots of Hollywood.

She didn’t care how long it would take, she was going to be the next star in the magic world and she was going to go it big, she was going to make sure of that. She checked herself for what felt like the 900th time in front of the mirror, and once she was sure that she looked good she left her bedroom and walked right into the party.  
There were people everywhere, from movie stars to athletes; it was the perfect environment for them to get publicity. Cosima was graciously charming all of the people she met. The fact that many had heard of her was impressive, which meant that she was doing everything right; her way to stardom was progressing slowly, but steadily.

“Cos, I have good news.” Sarah approached her sister, who was in the middle of a conversation with one of Beth’s guests.  
“Hey Sarah, this is Raj. Raj, my sister Sarah.” Both exchanged courteous greetings.  
“Nice meeting you dude!” Cosima closed the conversation before facing her sister.  
“I talked with Olivier Duval,” Sarah began. “You know, the host of The Late Night Show? I got us a guest spot.”  
“Really? That’s awesome, Sarah!” Cosima was super excited to get this chance.  
“Yeah, I spoke with Rachel a couple of minutes ago, she’s making the arrangements stat with Olivier’s production staff. You’ll probably be filming in just a few days.”  
“Woah, that means that we have to stay a bit longer in LA. Aw. Shit.” Cosima’s expression saddened a bit.  
“Goddamit Cos, don’t tell me this is because of Delphine. This is what you want, this is your dream you bloody idiot! Don’t you dare throw it away for the French!” Sarah stormed off to go grab a drink, knowing that if she staying, she was going to fight with Cosima. What Sarah did not understand was that Delphine was already part of the young magician’s heart. Magic filled one half, but the French occupied the other half. How could she could explain that to her twin? Sarah was right though, she couldn’t deny this opportunity. She missed Delphine terribly, but this was an opportunity to keep expanding and spreading her talent.

“Thank you all for coming, eh, I just want to say that your friendship and support have been invaluable.” Beth said raising a glass. “I want to thank in particular the lovely Alison Hendrix, who prepared this party for me, so cheers, everybody!” Whistles and clapping quickly followed the end of her statement as the guests became more and more excited. “Now, the best part of the evening! Ladies and gents, this woman will make the impossible possible, let’s give a warm welcome to the magician, Cosima Niehaus!” The thunderous applause was overwhelming. Cosima felt that she could live for the applause, but the only thing missing that would have made it absolutely perfect was her other half. “Thank you Miss Childs, and welcome to a night of magic.” Cosima was standing in the small stage prepared for her. She started to perform simple but very effective tricks. Cards and coin tricks, a little bit of mental tricks as well, she was pretty confident doing live shows. She was ready for the big leagues, no more Youtube videos and amateur shit, this was what she wanted to do and she was willing to own the stage. The only exception was that she wanted Delphine by her side to really feel complete. How was it possible that she couldn’t breathe without thinking of the other woman, even when she slept she dreamed of her. All of these thoughts increased when Beth talked about proposing to her girlfriend Alison. Did she really wanted to spend the rest of her life with the beautiful scientist?

“For this last trick before I finish my run here, I’d like to invite the gorgeous and talented Alison Hendrix up to the stage.” The audience clapped to encourage Alison to go up the stage. Alison was a somewhat reluctant, but she went up anyways.  
“Hello, Alison! I have to say that you are the best party planner! You’ve done something totally awesome tonight.”  
“Well, thank you.” Alison was tensing up, her shoulders tight and squared for reasons that were quite apparent.  
“Relax, Alison. I swear that I’m not hypnotizing you, you have my word.” The audience laughed in good humor.  
“Alright, alright. Please select one card out of the deck.” Cosima extended the cards and fanned them out before Alison. Alison plucked one from the middle of the deck. Cosima put the cards over the table and showed the card that Alison picked.  
“This is the card you want? Eight of spades?” Alison nodded.  
“Okay, cool. I’m going to put it in the middle of the deck, and with your magic touch your card will flip back on top of the deck, super easy.” Cosima placed Alison’s card back into the deck. She snapped her fingers and turned over a card.  
“Whoops, this isn’t the card. Let’s try again, okay?” She snapped her fingers once more and took the next card on top, she turned it.  
“Damn, it seems my mojo is wearing off. I think we need the help of our marvelous host, Beth.” People clapped once more to cheer on their host.  
“Alright Beth, just snap your fingers and Alison’s card will come to your call.” Beth did as told, Cosima took the next card and voila! There it was, the eight of spades. Cheers from the audience echoed merrily about the room.   
“Thank you. That’s what I like to call a magical connection. When two people really care for each other, like you two, this connection deepens. Let me show you how this works. Alison, write on any card you like with your name and Beth will complete your message with the power of magic.” Cosima shuffled the cards and gave the deck to Alison.  
“Okay, here we have the six of diamonda. As you can see the word Alison wrote is perfectly done.” Cosima showed the card to the audience. She took a match and lit the card.  
“Beth I want you to focus on Alison’s card, and while it’s burning, you think about how much she means to you, okay?” The card was finally burnt and Cosima took the ashes in her hand.  
“Okay Beth. Pick any card from the deck and now I want you to think again of whatever you were concentrating when Alison’s card burned.” Beth selected a random card and Cosima took it in her hand, spreading the ashes on top of Beth’s card.  
“Alright guys, watch.” Cosima took the deck of cards and threw it, the cards flying everywhere.  
“Sorry about the mess! I’ll pick the cards up later.” This brought laughter from the audience. “Anyway, the question is: Where is Beth’s card? You might think ‘Duh, it’s on the floor Cosima!’, but I say that it’s somewhere else. Alison, would you check your breast pocket please?” Alison looked dumbfounded, but she did as instructed. Her face changed quickly when her fingers came into contact with a card.  
“Oh God!” Alison said in shock.  
“Could you please read it, Alison, and then show it to the audience?” Alison looked at the ashen card in her hands.  
“What?” She looked wide eyed at Beth. Beth smiled in return.  
“What does Beth’s message say, Alison?” Cosima asked.  
“It says, ‘Will you be mine?’” Alison was now pretty nervous.  
“Wait! But the card you have is the six of diamonds, the one we burnt to ashes. And now you’re telling me that it has a different message? Wow, this is definitely what I call the power of magic. The message, if I’m not mistaken, would say: Alison, will you be mine? Is that correct?” Cosima asked again and Alison nodded.  
“Wait, something’s missing! Alison, check the right pocket of your jeans, please.” Alison put her hand inside the pocket.  
“Oh my God!” Alison took out a ring, a gold ring with a pink diamond on top.  
“See, that’s what I’m talking about. Love is magic. Alison, I think Beth is waiting for an answer,” Cosima said smiling.  
“Yes! YES!” Alison ran towards Beth and hugged her tightly. People were tearing up, while the less emotional clapped their hands and whistled. It was a very romantic moment and Cosima was happy that she helped to make it happen. Love is magic, Delphine is magic and that was her truth.

Three days later Cosima appeared on the Late Show with Olivier Duval, like Sarah had said. This chance opened many doors for the young magician. She got other small job offers, but the one that was definitely the best was to participate in Las Vegas Magic Showdown. People could only attend this majestic event by invitation, and it was the perfect chance to perform live and do a great trick that could send her straight to the Edinburg Magic Festival. If she nailed this, she was going to be one step closer to having her own show. She knew she had to finish preparing her big trick, the one that was going to make people wonder how she did it. One month exactly to prepare for Las Vegas Showdown and she was really excited to do this in company of the woman she loved, Delphine Cormier.

Even though they talked on the phone and skyped during her stay in L.A., nothing could ever match up with being face to face. Once Cosima and Sarah landed in San Francisco, Cosima went eagerly looking for Delphine, who came to pick up the sisters at the airport, much to Sarah’s dismay.  
Cosima’s face was of total bliss when she spotted Delphine. Who could miss such beauty standing like a model in the middle of the terminal? Certainly not Cosima.  
“Welcome back, chérie.” Delphine leaned in for a kiss. Cosima responded eagerly, almost desperate, she clung to Delphine and kissed her deeply. Sarah cleared her throat, at which Delphine stepped back and smiled at Sarah.  
“Well, at least allow me help you with these bags, chérie.” Delphine grabbed a bag and held hands with Cosima. They walked to her car, talking about how much they missed each other. Cosima talked about the days they had spent in L.A. One could see how excited she was by the swift movements of her hands. Sarah had to admit that she had never seen her twin like that, not even with the German. This woman had done something to Cosima, aside from running over her sister and fracturing her wrist, she had changed her on the inside. Still, there was something going on with Delphine. The way her shoulders tensed was a sign that something was off. Sarah could read her body language because that’s what she had been trained to do. Being a hustler during her youth, she had learned the manners and ways of tons of people in order to deceive them. She knew something was going on with Delphine; the tension was there in her expression, in the way she looked at Cosima. She had to find out what it was, for the sake of her sister.  
The ride home was quiet, not because Cosima didn’t have to chat with Delphine, but because Sarah was slightly annoyed, and Cosima didn’t want to ruin the trip by fighting with her twin. Once they arrived at Cosima’s apartment Sarah took her baggage and went straight to her room. Cosima and Delphine took the rest of the bags and lugged them to the living room. Then, they sat down to talk.

“Like I said, mon amour, tomorrow is a good day to have dinner with my family, but now you are tired and I want you to rest.” Delphine caressed Cosima’s palm, tracing slow circles on her hand.  
“I’m really eager to meet your aunt. You know, it’s like a big deal and I want to make a good impression.” Cosima kissed Delphine’s fingertips, teasing her by biting slightly.  
“It’s going to be okay Cosima, no pressure, it’s just dinner. Besides, you already know Antoine. He is very happy to have you around.”  
“Yeah, he’s a good kid.” Cosima interlaced her fingers with Delphine’s, standing and pulling the French to her room. She shut the door and she stood on the tip of her toes to kiss Delphine.  
“Chérie, I think we should wait until your sister leaves.” Cosima dropped tiny kisses along her jaw, moving along to the crook of her neck. Delphine tried to suppress a moan, but the more Cosima trailed kisses over her, the more Delphine relaxed.  
“You have no idea how much I missed you.” Cosima whispered in her ear. Her hands were already inside the scientist’s shirt. Her hands touching her skin were so soft and warm, making it difficult for Delphine to resist. Cosima pushed Delphine gently to her bed. There she continued her attack on the blonde, kissing her softly, deeply, savoring her slowly. In a blink of an eye Delphine was naked, and at the mercy of the magician, who worked flawlessly over the French. Things began to get pretty intense, so Cosima put one hand over Delphine’s mouth to muffle the sounds that Delphine made while she kept working on her sweet spot, until the climax overtook Delphine and she kissed her soundly once more. Once done, Cosima took off her clothes and joined Delphine; she put the blankets over their sweaty bodies and snuggled up against Delphine.  
“Brat. You’re only getting away with it this time because I’m letting you.” Delphine caressed Cosima’s back.  
“Well, in my defense, I have to say that I did do a pretty thorough job.” She grinned and Delphine couldn’t stop her laugh from bubbling out of her chest.  
“Merde, you cheeky girl! You are going to drive me insane one day.” Delphine kissed her forehead and kept caressing Cosima, but once she saw how the dreadlocked girl’s eyes were starting to sleepily shut, she removed her glasses and put them on the bedside table.  
Cosima was really tired, so she fell asleep rather quickly, but of course, Cosima was really quite stubborn and thus, she wanted to do her girlfriend first. Delphine held her in her arms, cradling her. The guilt was eating her alive. How could she steal from this woman, her work, her effort, to give it to a scumbag like Leekie, yet, he was serious about her research, her career would be over and her family aid would cease to exist. What to do? How to proceed?

Time was of the essence. Delphine knew that Leekie had someone following her and it was like she had a blade hanging over her head. If she gave the notebook info to Leekie she would be safe from him or at least cut all ties with him once and for all. On the other hand, Cosima trusted her enough to allow her into her world, though not that deep since she still kept her mouth shut regarding her magic tricks, and it was for the same reason Leekie wanted the info, what she had in that notebook was unique. The conflict was going to eat her alive. Her family’s safety was important, but the money she made while working at Berkeley was enough to provide for them.  
Her sweet magician. She looked so at peace between her arms, how cute and innocent. Why did she agree to do this in the first place? Leekie was a liar, now she knew, his intention was never to help Cosima, but to take advantage of her talent and resurrect his career. Now she had two options, and she knew which one she was going to take.  
Sleep tight, sweet magician, because the knife of betrayal will soon be plunged into your back in no time, from the person you least expected. Two pathways had been presented and she had chosen darkness. She felt that there was no escape for her, she didn’t trust her love enough and now she was going to deal with the consequences of her decision. What a cruel game this was. Why was fate was so determined to put to test the young magician? This will turn into a story of darkness; brace yourself, because what is going to come will seal the destiny of this girl. For now, let her sleep, don’t wake her up, let her dream with her French. After all, the rest is a story for another day.


	14. Chapter 14

Yet again, Delphine couldn’t sleep. She was restless all through the night, so she sat at Cosima’s desk instead, leaning back and watching over her magician. She tried to think of a way to avoid hurting her, but she couldn’t come up with a single one. She was going to find out soon that Leekie had her tricks, because he was going to use them and claim them as his own. She checked the clock on the wall. 6:00AM.  
She stood and dressed herself. She picked her things up and carefully dropped a kiss on Cosima’s head before exiting her bedroom. She walked slowly, trying to avoid making too much noise, but when she was in the living room she failed to notice the corner of the coffee table and hit her foot.

“Merde!”  
“Careful, doctor. We don’t want you to hurt yourself, yeah?” Delphine’s focus immediately snapped to the familiar figure sitting on the kitchen counter.   
“Sarah, good morning.” She said, rather embarrassed to be caught sneaking out of their apartment.  
“G’morning, It’s kinda early to be leaving my sister’s bed. Something going on?” Sarah asked casually.  
“Non, non I have to go home to get ready for work, I did not want to wake her, so…”  
“So you’d rather sneak out like a rat,” Sarah said bluntly, her piercing gaze scrutinizing every detail of Delphine.  
“Ha! Yes, it is very embarrassing.” Delphine tried to dismiss the comment using her humor.  
Sarah smiled. “You know, when I can’t sleep, I usually take a cuppa. You should try it, it can really help to ease your mind.”  
“Oh, thank you for the advice, but I sleep rather well.” Delphine smiled and kept walking; she did not want to continue this conversation with Sarah. With a, “See you later, Sarah,” she left.

Delphine immersed herself in her work, trying to forget her mission assigned by Leekie; she analyzed data and searched for any hints that could explain Katja’s disease. She had analyzed lots of samples and she was on the verge of finding a pattern, she knew it, she just had to keep pushing herself. Sooner or later she was going to come up with answers. She didn’t have much time, maybe a couple more months. Katja’s health was deteriorating fairly quickly and the analysis was slow. She kept working until her eyes hurt.  
Her phone bleeped and she checked the message, it was her girl, asking if she was okay. Cosima was very intuitive, that’s one of the reasons she was successful at magic, she could read people, but in a good way, not like Sarah’s abilities. Sarah could smell bullshit from a mile away.  
She texted back, saying that she was just anxious for the dinner tonight with her aunt, she didn’t want to give any reasons to make her worry. Cosima replied that she was also anxiously waiting for dinner with her family. Delphine sent her a heart emoticon. The chat was starting to heat up, so Delphine sent Cosima a reprimand for distracting her while she was at work. Cosima apologized and sent a cute selfie in return. They agreed to meet at Cosima’s workshop before going to dinner and went back to their routines.  
Delphine spaced out for a while, thinking about her magician. How she fell so deep was a question she often asked herself. Not in a million years would she have expected to be entangled in a relationship with a girl, but she was, and that made her extremely happy. She looked at her wrist where the bracelet with the stars and Cosima’s coin hung loosely. She touched it and closed her eyes, envisioning the girl that haunted her dreams. She prayed that she could forgive her one day. She was not a religious woman, but in that moment she prayed with all her might for forgiveness. That was her only hope.  
_______________  
“Like I said Scott, I need this to look invisible to the human eye. Dude, if you can’t build it, then I’m screwed.” Cosima reviewed the model she had made in her notebook again and compared it to Scott’s design.  
“I know, but I’m gonna have to modify this if you want to fit in there like you want.” Scott scratched his design and wrote new specifications on his plan.  
“Dude, check this out, this is the best I can do with the materials we have.” Cosima eyed the design on Scott’s papers again. She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to envision the design already built and functioning.  
“Okay, do it. Let me know how it goes man.” Cosima fistbumped Scott and kept working on her new routine.  
She had less than three weeks to be ready for Las Vegas and she was in need of a successful trick, or she was going to bite the dust and that was going to be game over for her. She needed to rehearse and make sure the trick was going to be awesome, but safe for her as well. She was going to spend the upcoming weeks neck deep in her workshop.  
She kept working and as usual, she forgot to check her watch. Delphine was going to pick her up in less than 15 minutes.  
“Oi! You still around sis?” Sarah came into the workshop.  
“Hey you, I didn’t know you were here.” Cosima looked at her twin.  
“What?” Sarah shrugged Cosima off casually. Cosima squinted her eyes and craned her neck, taking a closer look. “Is that…shit, Sarah, that’s lipstick!”  
“No! Bloody hell Cos, you are completely paranoid.” Sarah quickly cleaned her neck as best as she could.  
“For fuck’s sake Sarah! Could you keep it in your pants while we get this thing done?”  
“Nothing happened. Besides, you should be more aware of your French seductress instead of me.”  
“Come on man, don’t start with that shit, leave Delphine alone.” Cosima was about to start another argument with Sarah when her beautiful girl entered the place.  
“Hello, I saw that the door was open and well, here I am.” Delphine stared at both sisters apologetically. She assumed that they were fighting before she interrupted, inferring from the nearly palpable tension that clouded the room.  
“Shit, sorry, I got distracted with work. I’m just preparing for Las Vegas, remember what I told you?” Delphine nodded.  
“Yeah, that’s what I’m working on right now. Give me a minute to clean up and I’ll be with you in moment.” Cosima put her notebook inside her bag and went to the restroom to tidy herself up. In the meantime, Sarah decided to make friendly conversation with Delphine.  
“You two are going to dinner, right?” Sarah asked.  
“Oui. Eh, yes we are going to my home.” Delphine put her hands inside her pockets to hide her nervousness. Sarah was too cunning for her own good.  
“Sounds good, I hope that you two have a lovely time. I can’t help but feel protective of her; after all she is my baby sister, Delphine, though just for minute and half.” Sarah laughed, but her eyes were sharp in questioning.  
Delphine smiled timidly in response. “I will take good care of her Sarah, I promise.” At least that was her intention, to keep her safe from Leekie.  
“Hey, I’m ready. Sarah, make sure to get the materials that Scott needs and give the list to Rachel, would ya?” Cosima grabbed her handbag, took Delphine’s hand and they were off.

Cosima exhaled nervously before stepping onto the stone path that led to the door. Delphine was a couple of steps ahead of Cosima, giving her time to relax.  
“She is going to love you chérie, don’t get nervous. Okay?” Delphine grabbed Cosima’s hand and kissed it. Cosima smiled and nodded before moving on. Delphine opened the door with her key and let Cosima in.  
The house was pretty spacious, unlike her flat. The style was simple but elegant, paints decorated the walls and family pictures were scattered on various surfaces around the flat.  
“You are finally here!” an accented female voice said. The woman was clearly older than Delphine, though she looked young in appearance, darker blonde hair surrounding her face and brown eyes, just like Delphine’s.  
“Cosima this is my aunt, Alize Beraud.” Delphine introduced the woman.  
“So you are the magician! Antoine talks a lot about you.” Cosima shook her hand.  
“Allow me, Madam.” Cosima stretched her arm behind Mrs. Beraud’s head, and out of nowhere she pulled a rose. “For you.” Cosima handed her the rose.  
“Mon dieu Delphine! This girl knows how to cause a great first impression.” Delphine couldn’t help but laugh, that was her cheeky girl indeed.  
“Cosima!” Antoine came downstairs and hugged the petite magician.  
“Hey Antoine, how’re you doing?”  
“I’ve been practicing what you showed me, my friends were amazed with the trick, ‘specially the chicks. You rock.” Cosima ruffled his hair.  
“Glad I could help.” She winked at him.  
They sat at the dinner table and talked about Cosima and her early days doing street magic, how she managed to pull off that levitation trick and her future projects. Cosima felt so happy to be among Delphine’s family circle, which made her feel all the closer to her. Still, Delphine was not as enthusiastic. Cosima wondered what could be bothering her. But instead of asking, she simply held her hand and squeezed it gently to offer comfort. Delphine smiled at her, yet the smile did not reach her eyes.  
“That is very impressive Cosima, just make sure that fame does not change who you are,” Alize said to Cosima.  
“No need to worry Mrs. Beraud, I bet your niece will keep me grounded!” Cosima smiled cheekily.  
“Well Cosima, if you get bored of my cousin know that here you have a faithful fan.”  
“Antoine!” Delphine threw her napkin at her bratty cousin.  
Cosima laughed loudly. “Cosima! Don’t you dare consider his idea.” Delphine turned red from embarrassment.  
“Don’t worry babe, I only have eyes for you.” She winked at Antoine in complicity.  
After dessert, they shared more family stories, Cosima asked a lot about Delphine’s life in Paris and how she managed to come all the way to San Fran. Cosima was impressed and quite proud of her girlfriend’s talent, and how she had managed to catch the eyes of prominent scientists and do interesting things.  
Delphine obviously had to omit Aldous name, if she knew that she had grabbed the spot to come to San Francisco because of his influence, that would quickly raise alarm from Cosima. Still, she did her best to keep her story as honest as possible.  
The night came to an end and it was time to get back to Cosima’s apartment. Cosima said her farewells to Antoine and Mrs. Beraud before stepping out into the brisk night air.  
“So, did you have a nice time?” Delphine asked curiously at her girlfriend.  
“Yeah, it was rad. I like your aunt a lot, and Antoine is such a cool kid. I could get used to eating French cuisine for the rest of my life.”  
Delphine kissed her, so desperate for the contact. For some reason when she was like this with Cosima the world simply vanished and only the two of them existed. No Leekie, no danger to her family or Cosima, just them. Cosima pulled Delphine closer; tasting wine on her lips. Her perfume was driving her insane, her hands roaming her back, she was so desperate to tear up the fabric to get to Delphine’s skin, but Delphine broke the kiss suddenly.  
“We should get going, chérie. It is very late.”

Cosima tucked a wild lock of hair behind Delphine’s ear; giving her a sheepish smile.  
“Yeah, but you’re staying with me tonight, aren’t you?” Cosima raised her eyebrows. That girl was so sassy. Delphine smiled and nodded.  
The ride back to her apartment was fast, maybe because Cosima was driving like crazy. She was desperate to reach her home to do the deed with Delphine  
Once inside, Cosima texted Sarah just to give her a heads up and avoid an embarrassing moment. The affirmative reply did not take long.  
“Sarah isn’t coming home tonight, she’s staying somewhere else,” Cosima said out loud. Delphine relaxed once that she knew for certain that she was not going to see Sarah any time soon. Delphine went for Cosima’s lips and she responded eagerly. Cosima dropped her bag carelessly over the living room table, and the notebook sprawled over it. Delphine spotted it with the corner of her eye, but she kept kissing Cosima and pushed her onto the kitchen counter. Delphine smiled happily and went right down to her magician’s special place.

Cosima was pretty surprised by Delphine’s intense reaction, but nonetheless happy; maybe Delphine was feeling confident enough to take the lead, which did not bother her at all. Cosima inclined her head and closed her eyes, her mouth releasing short breaths. Her pelvis was on fire, her hips started to buck but the French girl had her well restrained and she was merciless. Cosima’s cursing was all that could be heard until the name of God left her lips while the climax swept her away.  
Clothes were scattered everywhere, moans were heard freely around the apartment. Cosima had to step up her game as Delphine just showed her just how fast of a learner she was. The action moved to Cosima’s bedroom, once the dark rims of Cosima’s glasses were off the game started; right under the sheets Cosima displayed her sexual prowess to a very aroused Delphine. The dance of sweaty bodies under the sheets accompanied by entangled legs, French words arousing the magician who worked over the French who was like a canvas, where she would draw with kisses and caresses. Inch by inch she explored her body, allowing herself to paint her enjoyment of Delphine all over.  
Her fingers worked Delphine’s inner thighs, her small bites sending chills throughout blonde’s body. She kept trailing kisses up until she reached her torso, nipping her breasts and leaving tiny marks, which increased her arousal. There was nothing sexier than leaving her lover with signs of her possession and love-making. But then Cosima’s fingers were inside Delphine, pumping her wet channel until her muscles contracted and Delphine’s fingers dug deep in Cosima’s back, and she screamed her name.  
The battle was over. Bodies were sprawled one on top of the other, breaths ragged and torn. Delphine’s eyes became teary, Cosima was worried that she took it too far but Delphine assured her it was her usual “crying after sex” thing.  
“I’m very hungry, and it is very hot in here.” Delphine showed her best puppy eyes to Cosima, who rolled her eyes.  
“Shh, your wish is my command, my French puppy. Eskimo pies it is!” She stood up and put on the first thing she found. Placing her glasses on her face, she smiled lovingly at Delphine.  
“I won’t take long, there’s a store just around the corner.” Delphine pecked Cosima lips.  
“Je t'aime Cosima, always.” Delphine said it so seriously, Cosima furrowed her brows but she smiled. “I love you too.” She went off to buy eskimo pies after their love-making session.  
Delphine put a robe quickly, as she knew she had very little time to do this. She headed to the living room and took the notebook, taking pictures of the last tricks she was developing using her phone, with the exception of the very last one, the one that Cosima was more excited about. She sent an e-mail with the files attached and made the call.  
“It’s done.”  
“You sure you have everything?”  
“Oui, all the files are in there Aldous”  
“Well done Delphine, you’ve done good.”

Which was as far from the truth as could be. She was disgusted, and her hands were shaking. Returning to Cosima’s bed, she laid there, tears flowing freely from her eyes. The bitter taste of betrayal made her stomach roll, but it was done, there was no point crying over spilled milk.  
She had made her choice and now Leekie had the upper hand, the magician was fooled by love, but who could blame her? She just wanted to trust someone else besides her twin for the first time in her life. The night was going to be awkward, knowing what she just had done. How could she enjoy the delicious treat her caring lover went to buy in her undies? She was going to do her best, she refused to ruin this moment, because this was probably the last thing she was going to be able to share with her magician. What is going to happen tomorrow? That, is a story for another day.


	15. Chapter 15

Morning light filtered in softly through the window. Her body ached in all the right places, and she couldn’t deny that she had had a good time last night. Her head was spinning from too much booze though.  
“Shit.” She tried to sit up on the bed with no success.  
“Stay right where you are Sarah, I’ll get you some pills.” Rachel stood up, her naked body glistening with sweat. She moved through the bedroom with such elegance, it was hard not to stare at her. She went into the bathroom and took from the cabinet some pills. A minute later she was back with a glass of water and the meds.  
“Thanks.” She reached out to take the medicine and leaned back again. Rachel scooted closer to Sarah.  
“Are you going to tell me now why you were in such a bad mood last night?” She started to nip Sarah’s earlobe.  
“I already told you, it’s nothing important.” Sarah rubbed her back softly.  
“Liar.” Rachel bit Sarah’s neck, hard.  
“Ouch, goddamit Rachel! That’s gonna to leave a fucking bruise!” She then licked up the tiny droplets of blood.  
“Is it Paul? You know I don’t have a problem sharing you with that bugger, unless he really did something to you. Should I take care of it Sarah?” Rachel said in a sultry voice, which made the menace in her tone all the more terrifying.  
“Jesus no! You don’t have to do anything, Rachel. It’s no big deal.” Sarah started to caress the golden strands of Rachel’s short bob.  
“You always come back to me. There must be something wrong with that guy, not a good lover, maybe?” Sarah frowned at Rachel.  
“You saying you don’t want me around?” Rachel chuckled.  
“You know I always want you around, but there’s something going on with you. These last couple of weeks you have been more…” Rachel trailed off and sighed, then kissed Sarah’s lower lip.  
“It’s your sister, again. Why does it bother you what she does with the French?” Rachel saw Sarah’s gestures. Carefully measuring her next word, she said, “You’re jealous, aren’t you?” Sarah laughed maniacally.  
“WHAT? Oh gosh Rachel, that’s bloody ridiculous.” Sarah clutched her stomach from the laughter.  
“Is it?” Rachel cradled Sarah’s face, looking straight into her eyes.  
“Yes, you are jealous; you feel that maybe she’s taking your twin away from you. That’s what’s making you so damn cranky,” Rachel purred.  
“NO! You’re wrong! I am extremely worried for Cosima. She’s completely blinded by that woman’s façade, I don’t trust her, yeah?”  
“I know you very well Sarah; Did you forget long we’ve known each other?” Sarah rolled her eyes in response.  
“How could I ever forget the day I tried to con you when we were in London?”  
“Yes, which was very stupid on your part,” Rachel said.  
“Well you can’t blame me, you posh bitch!”  
“Sarah? You better come to terms with whatever is going on between you two, for your sister’s sake and for yours as well.” Rachel traced Sarah’s lip with her finger.  
“I know,” Sarah said, and she kissed Rachel passionately.

The singular relationship Sarah had with Rachel was enough for her. It was very taxing being with a dominant woman, but that kept her entertained and her thoughts as far away as possible from reality. Rachel was a cold person. She wasn’t going to develop feelings for her, or so she thought. That’s why she felt safe with her, and that’s why she always returned to her embrace. She wouldn’t judge her or criticize her; she always offered great advice. Even through that, she was cunning, and Rachel knew that there was more than met the eye to what she said. Sarah wasn’t sure exactly why she hated the woman, probably more than Katja, who had fucked her sister up badly. Why Sarah? Why do you dislike her so much? Will she really take your sister away from you?   
Only time will tell.

Sarah showered and got dressed, kissing Rachel goodbye and searching for a cab ride home. It was still early and her idiotic sister was probably with that woman. She didn’t want to see her, but what she could do? She just had to deal with it. The ride back home was quick; she paid and climbed out of the taxi. She was looking for her keys inside her jacket pocket when she noticed a weird girl on a motorcycle, just looking where she was at on the front sidewalk. The strange girl was wearing a dark green jacket, and it was obvious that she was definitely not from the area. Sarah turned to have a better look at the stranger, but at that moment, the girl pulled her hood over her head, fired up her bike, and left.  
“Weird,” was all she said.

She stuffed the keys back into her pocket and climbed the stairs to her floor. She opened the door and when she entered, she saw the mess. Clothes were scattered everywhere, and Cosima’s and the scientist handbags’ were scattered over the table. She was going to go straight to her room, but she was too tempted to rummage through that woman’s stuff.  
Sarah approached the table and took the handbag; she opened it and started to check what she had inside. She took out her wallet; well she’s got some cash, ID card, driver’s license, nothing suspicious here. She pulled out some documents, but they belonged to the UC Berkeley, there were some receipts as well. It seems you like this coffee shop a lot, doc.  
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” Shit. Cosima’s voice could be heard from afar. Sarah put everything back in its place. The door creaked when her twin opened it, and she stood and moved away from the table, trying to walk as casually as possible.  
“Hey Sarah, good morning!” Cosima said with a huge smile.  
“Hey sis, morning.” Sarah kissed her cheek.  
“I’m about to make breakfast, you want some?” Cosima was in the kitchen opening the cupboards.  
“Sure, I just gotta get some clean clothes on.”  
Sarah was on her way to her bedroom, but she couldn’t help peek into her sister’s room. She saw Delphine staring out the window, looking extremely lost. Sarah approached her out of curiosity and called for her.  
“Oi Delphine! Cos is making breakfast, you coming?” There was no response, so she stepped closer to the woman standing at the window.  
Sarah put her hand on her shoulder, and Delphine whipped her head up, finally noticing her standing there.  
“Merde Sarah! You scared me.” She put her hand over her chest in relief.  
“Sorry, just wanted to let you know about breakfast, you seem tense. You okay?” Sarah could see the dark circles under her eyes; she looked even more pale than usual. The tension in her body was evident. What was really going on with this woman?  
“Oui, too much work. Merci.” She arranged her robe and strode out of the room.  
Sarah just kept staring at her, wondering if she really was being a prick with her twin’s love interest. Maybe she should give her the benefit of the doubt and trust her. Still, she couldn’t rid herself of the feeling that something was off. She was going to keep an eye on her for sure, but she would try to be nicer with the scientist. She had to admit that her sister was happier than she ever was when she dated Katja. Alright Delphine, prove me wrong.  
________________  
Two weeks had passed and her relationship with Cosima was better than ever, except for the fact that Leekie had all the info regarding her magic tricks, because of her betrayal. Cosima and Delphine didn’t see each other much then. Cosima was practicing a lot of tricks and preparing the new ones for the show in Las Vegas, and Delphine was submerged in data from Katja’s tests. She was starting to understand the singularity of her genome and the problem with a specific receptor that had a mutation, which meant it was highly probable that it was culprit in the lung degenerative disease. She had a ton more to analyze, but she felt more confident now.  
Something new that also was somewhat surprising was Sarah’s attitude towards her; for some reason, she was being kinder to her. It was a good sign, and maybe there was hope for having a good relationship with her. She really wanted to be close to Sarah as well, who was the twin of Cosima, and she knew how much they cared for each other and how difficult it was for them to be apart, especially during their childhood.

She was focusing on her task when she got a call. She reached into her lab coat pocket and pulled out the phone, checking the screen. It said unknown number, but she pressed a button to accept the call anyways.  
“”Alló?”  
“Delphine, we need to meet.” She recognized the ominous voice.  
“Aldous!? I thought we were done. I got you what you wanted!” She said too loudly, so she apologized to her co-workers. She did not want to attract unwanted attention, so she stood up and moved away from her workstation, going to the emergency exit stairwell where no one could hear her talking.  
“There is something else I need you to do,” Aldous said  
“Quoi? Bien sûr que non!” Delphine was not going to do this, not again.  
“Delphine, you have no choice, if you don’t come and meet me you might be responsible for something terrible,” he responded, voice menacing.  
Delphine stood still, thinking what to do. Should she call the police? Maybe telling Cosima the truth was the best option.  
“Delphine?” Aldous asked.  
Delphine sighed in defeat. “I’ll text you the address and I’ll be there in an hour.” She ended the call. Her hands were shaking with an intense amount of anger and impotence. She had to find a way to stop this, but how? The thing that scared her most was that he made a threat, and she knew that he was capable of anything now. There was no easy way to escape this, and she had 60 minutes to be at the coffee shop and meet Leekie. Hopefully she would be able to solve this huge mess.  
The coffeeshop was crowded, which made her feel safer in the presence of Aldous. He was sat at a table in the far corner of the shop. She walked slowly, moving through the line of people waiting to order. She only kept moving out of sheer will, and fear creeped in her consciousness, making her worry about the possible outcome of the encounter. When she reached his table, she sat in the seat across from him.  
“Well Aldous, what do you want?” Delphine tried to sound as confident she could.  
“I need to know where she keeps her magic gadgets,” he simply stated.  
“Je ne sais pas. Pourquoi voulez-vous savoir?” She asked.  
“I found some tricks rather useful for my repertoire for Las Vegas and I might need those items. There is only two weeks and I don’t have time to build what is needed.”  
“I don’t know where she keeps them; she never discloses any information regarding her work, not to anyone, not to me.” Delphine knew where her workshop was, but she was only saying a half-truth. She really wasn’t sure if Cosima kept her magic trinkets in that place.  
“Is that right?” Aldous squinted at Delphine, distrusting her.  
“Oui, I really don’t know. Please! You have enough Aldous, leave her alone,” she said almost pleadingly.  
“It seems you ended caring for her too much Delphine. What if something bad happened to her, wouldn’t it be a shame to lose such a-“ Delphine interrupted him.  
“I’ll find it!”  
“Good, you better report back to me or else I might have to make a call to someone who will take care of this… problem” He stood up and left Delphine, who felt worse than ever. She was giving him the tools to have Cosima under his iron grip, and now she was guilty of putting her in danger. The only way she was going to protect her was leading Leekie to the items he asked for. She had to come clean about this, but she was scared of Cosima’s reaction, more afraid of losing her than what Leekie could do to her. She didn’t care anymore for her safety. She cared for her magician more than her own life.

She took her phone and dialed Cosima.  
I am so sorry ma chérie, I will tell you everything after Las Vegas.   
After the second tone she answered.  
“Hey Delphine, what a surprise! I thought you were working late at the lab.” Hearing her voice made her feel blessed to have her in her life, but also very guilty.  
“Oh non, I am tired of working. I wanted like to see you if you had any time?” She asked casually.  
“Oh well, I’m at the workshop checking out a few things with Scott, but you can come if you want, I really don’t mind the distraction.” She was probably grinning, that brat.  
“See you in a bit, chérie.” She threw the phone inside her handbag. There was no going back now. Delphine stood up and walked through the store, avoiding a couple of customers. What she had failed to notice was that someone else was there. Someone had seen her meeting with Aldous Leekie, and it was someone who distrusted her and now she had reasons for her distrust.   
Sarah Manning.  
_________________  
“Sarah, could you please stop pestering me about all these errands? You knew I had to do this before you agreed to join me,” Rachel said.  
“I know, but you know we’ve been at this for almost two hours!” Sarah complained while she drove through the main avenue.  
“Let’s get the coffee for the crew and then we’ll be done.” Rachel checked her tablet before speaking again.  
“There are a couple of materials that we need to pick up, but that’s closer to the office, so- don’t put on that annoyed face!” She said, matter of factly.  
“Shit, fine. Look, there’s a bloody coffee shop, I’ll stop and get the orders, yeah?”  
Sarah drove through an intersection, and turned left. She parked in front of the shop, and left Rachel waiting inside the car.  
“Shit, this is full.” Sarah had to wait in line, so she took out her headphones and jammed them on. She tapped her foot to the beat while she waited her turn, when she suddenly spotted at the corner that old creep, Aldous Leekie, and Delphine.  
“What the…” She took her headphones out, about to interrupt their conversation to see Delphine’s reaction, but it was her time to order.  
“Hello, what’s your name so I can take your order?” The barista asked.  
“Yeah, it’s eh, Dolly. Two large coffees and one frappuccino.” She paid and walked as closely as she could to the table, trying to overhear them; it was now better not to let them know that she was there. She was nearby other customers, so she positioned herself between them and Delphine’s table. She barely could hear what they were saying with so many people talking, but the real question was what the hell Delphine was doing with that guy. What if she called her twin? No, better not, I don’t want to say something that might be wrong. But it looks weird, I know that Delphine was into the guy or whatever, they met in that show last month, so why they are talking with so much familiarity?  
Aldous left the table first. She saw Delphine make a call, and after a while she left. Sarah was very careful to avoid being seen.  
“Dolly?” Sara didn’t react the first time, but then she remembered that was the name she had given, so she went to the counter to pick her order up and walked back to the car.  
“You are not going to believe what I just saw.” Sarah handed the order to Rachel. She arched her brows inquisitively.  
“I saw Delphine with the creepy Leekie. Remember that he wanted to do a partnership or some shit with Cos?”  
“Yes, Aldous Leekie. He’s also going to Las Vegas, last I heard.”  
“Really? This is even weirder. Why do you think Delphine was with him?” Sarah started the engine and moved out of the parking space.  
“I have no clue Sarah, but what are you going to tell your sister?”  
“I’m not really sure. What if it was nothing? I don’t want to look like the horrible sibling; you already know I’m not in the best place with Cos because of the damn French.”  
“Well, I’ll leave that up to you. Now, shall we go get those materials?”  
The situation was getting more complex, and all pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. The truth was about to be revealed and a lot of pain was about to be caused. What is going to happen now that Delphine is trapped between Scylla and Charybdis? Will Sarah tell Cosima what she saw? Those damned questions to be answered soon, but for now, wait. Tomorrow will be a new day and I’ll have something else to tell you.  
The rest is a story for another day.


	16. Chapter 16

Delphine was wide awake. She couldn’t sleep again, thinking about the threat hanging on Cosima’s head, she wasn’t sure how far he would go for his own purposes, but she was not going to risk her life. She felt Cosima stirred by her side, she was going to wake up soon, better take a shower and put on makeup to cover the dark circles under her brown eyes. She kissed Cosima’s temple and went for the bathroom.  
After was done she looked herself in the mirror and applied her makeup, particularly under her eyes to cover her lack of sleep and recurring nightmares. When she got out of the bathroom she found Cosima awake on her bed.

“Bonjour sleepy head how are you today?” Delphine asked cheerful.  
“Morning. You wake up early, any chance of having breakfast together?” Cosima rolled on the bed to reach for her glasses, she put them on, making that cute face Delphine loved so much.  
“Oh, a quick breakfast oui.”  
“Cool, let me fix you something quick then” Cosima jumped out of the bed, put on a sweater cape on and pecked Delphine on her rosy lips. Delphine put one hand over Cosima’s waist to hold her a little longer, the other hand tipping her chin up and kissing her deeply, that caught Cosima by surprise, but it was very welcomed.  
“I will protect you ma chérie, I promise” Delphine caressed her cheek.  
Cosima frowned not quiet understanding, nonetheless she smiled “Is this about my final trick? Because let me tell you that is not that dangerous. Why don’t you come today and I’ll explain you exactly how it works”  
“You will show me really?” Delphine did not expect her to reach that level of trust where her magician was going to reveal her biggest trick.  
“Of course, after all you’re my girl. And I have to go to make you something to eat before you leave for work” Cosima headed for the kitchen all smiles.  
Delphine finished arranging her bag before going to the small kitchen. There was Sarah seated in the table drinking tea. Delphine sat beside her.  
“Bonjour Sarah.”  
Sarah stared at her for like a minute, scrutinizing her “Hey frenchie, all right?”  
“Very well” was all she could say. She realized that lately all the things she said were lies.  
Cosima prepared a toast with jelly for Delphine and gave her coffee. She joined her sister and her girlfriend at the table.  
“You like coffee a lot, don’t you Delphine?” Sarah asked out of nowhere.  
“Oui, very much.” Delphine bit her toast.  
“There is a coffee shop, just a couple of blocks from here. They sell really good coffee and muffins”  
“I think I know which one you are talking about Sarah, I pass there every day on my way to work and yes there muffins are great”  
“Watch out Cos, your girlfriend might use this place to have a secret meeting with her lover” Sarah said.  
Delphine choked on the food, she started to cough.  
“Hey, not funny man” Cosima patted Delphine on her back.  
“Wha’ I was just joking” Sarah said, but her face was all seriousness.  
Delphine finished eating, kissed goodbye Cosima and left. What Sarah said left her uneasy. Joke or not that was not far from the truth, at all.  
She worked halfheartedly, she was processing a blood sample from Katja to determine the behavior of the receptor she was testing for mutations, this was going to reveal her if she was in the right path or not. At least, she could do this right, she was going to do her best to fulfil her word to do all she could to help Katja.  
After making several analyses she started to copy her preliminary report on her computer, when her patient arrived.  
“Guten tag Delphine” Katja coughed a bit before seating right beside Delphine in her office.  
“Hello Katja, I have news for you. It seems that I was right; you are carrying a very weird mutation that has activated your immune response in a very aggressive way. After much analysis I have reached this conclusion which leads me to the next step.”  
“This means you can cure me?” Katja hoped that what she was hearing was not a dream.  
“I don’t know yet, I have to design an artificial receptor in order to see how it interacts in your body, but I am confident that this approach might give you a chance.”  
Katja did not wait any longer and pounced over Delphine, sobbing and hugging her. Delphine hugged her back.  
“You have no idea what I have been through, I thought that there was no hope for me, but you have given me a wonderful gift doctor.” Katja said with a teary face.  
“Well, like I said this is not by any chance a cure, but it can help. Also, well, we are going to need more resources”  
“Whatever you need is yours, ja? Danke Delphine”  
At least this was going right in her life, providing hope for a woman that was important for her girl. Besides it was a very interesting case for her career as well, if only the rest was as smooth as this.  
________________  
“Goddamit, I can’t open the fucking hatch Scott!!” Cosima screamed inside the transparent magic box. Scott ran towards Cosima to get her out.  
“Sorry, but this box needs a lot of work Cosima, I don’t think you should do this trick, at least not yet” Scott shrugged.  
“Shit, this trick is the best if I do it in Vegas it’s almost sure I made the cut Scott, try to fix it” Cosima sighed in frustration. Her hands were on her head, she closed her eyes and breathed in and out, the stress making her anxious.  
“Cosima?” Delphine greeted.  
Cosima opened her eyes and immediately a smile was drawn on her face. “Hey you came. Come” Cosima walked towards Delphine and extended her hand, Delphine entwined her fingers with the magician and followed her.  
“Here take a look, this is what I’m trying to do. You see the box there?” Delphine nodded.  
“Well the purpose is to disappear from inside the box, which is completely transparent to allow the audience to see me stuck inside” Cosima flapped her hands trying to explain what she was going to do. Her excitement was contagious.  
“So once I’m stuck inside with my hands tight an explosive will be thrown inside and I have to get the hell out of there before the shit blows me into pieces” Delphine had her eyes wide open.  
“Cosima, that is really dangerous!” Delphine said in complete horror.  
“Yeah, that’s why I should do it, it’s gonna be hella insane. Though it still needs work, maybe it won’t be ready for Las Vegas” She shrugged.  
“Non, non chérie that is not okay to do in any instance” Delphine was freaking out and with reason.  
Cosima took both her hands and kissed them “No need to worry Delphine, this is the idea but it’s not ready, I’m not going to be reckless, okay?” Cosima gave her a reassuring smile.  
“Mon Dieu! that is very dangerous, no need to be a daredevil chérie” Delphine cupped her cheek.  
“Don’t worry, if it makes you feel uncomfortable I won’t do it” Cosima pulled her and laid her head over the taller woman’s chest. Delphine hold her tight. The embrace, comforting.  
“I need to take a break so, would you like to join me for a walk at the beach?” Cosima asked.  
“Oui, let’s do that” Delphine gave her a faint smile.  
“Awesome. Scott, you are in charge of checking the rest of the props, and try to fix the damn box”  
“All right, I’ll do that” Scott laughed nervously, it was pretty clear that Delphine fazed him. She could have that effect on people.  
Once at the beach, Cosima took her shoes off. She liked the feeling of the sand on her feet, since she was a little girl she loved the beach, she felt so free and happy running and feeling the wind on her face, the cold water splashing at her feet. It was a marvelous sensation, one that she liked to share with Delphine.  
Delphine smiled at her girlfriend who was fooling around at the shore, playing with some kids and showing them tricks with a coin. She unconsciously grabbed her bracelet, the one with the coin Cosima gave her and she held it in her hand. Cosima took a look at her girlfriend and noticed that she was kind of absent. Her expression showing that she was very far away.

Cosima couldn’t help but to be worried, she knew something was going on with Delphine. She felt her restlessness at night; she noticed how she always applied makeup first thing in the morning, when in the past she barely used it. But she did not reach for her; Delphine did not asked Cosima for help. It bothered her, but she was going to respect Delphine’s decision to keep her problems to herself. Still it hurt that she didn’t trust her enough to share her difficulties, no matter how irrelevant they might be.  
Cosima waved at Delphine to call her attention, after a couple of tries, Delphine snapped out of it and waved back smiling. Cosima was going to try her best to cheer her up, so she ran towards her girlfriend as fast as she could, the element of surprise her ally. When Delphine saw the mischievous face on Cosima, she knew something was up, when she noticed the small bucket she was carrying at max speed.

“Non, non Cosima don’t you dare!” Delphine extended her hands in front of her to stop Cosima, but she was laughing like a 5 year old and she was not stopping. Delphine started to run as far away as she could from the shorter woman in red, but for being a short girl she ran pretty fast catching up Delphine in no time and splashing her with cold water.  
“Merde, Cosima you big dork!” Delphine was laughing and Cosima threw herself at Delphine, who fell in the sand, Cosima was on top of her, just like that day when Darwin pushed Delphine on top of Cosima.  
“I like to hear you laugh” Cosima said, trying to catch her breath.  
“You always make me laugh Cosima.” Delphine cupped her face and pulled her closer so she could kiss her.  
“Well, since I was misbehaving today I think I should invite you for ice cream, what do you say if invite you to Smitten?” Cosima seated beside Delphine.  
“Ice cream? You always want to eat for one of two reasons, you are horny or you had sex.” Delphine clasped her hands over her torso, still lying down on the sand.  
“This is your entire fault; if I make you laugh you make me horny my French puppy. So it is very important that I cool off or else I won’t contain myself and do the do as soon as we are all alone” She smiled playfully.  
“Brat!” Delphine threw a little of sand to Cosima, who laughed in returned.  
“Why don’t we have dinner tonight at your flat?” Delphine asked.  
“Sounds good to me”  
“I can bring wine and the truffles that you liked so much the last time”  
“You promise?” Cosima made her puppy eyes to Delphine.  
“I promise” Delphine gave her a warm smile in return, looking at those beautiful hazel eyes surrounded by that eyeliner that make her look so hot.  
The two of them stayed a while longer at the beach, holding hands; once in a while Cosima would stop to present a small trick to the people visiting the beach. She just needed her coin to marvel people with magic. Cosima fed on the smiles of happiness and reactions from the crowd. She loved so much the look of wonder and incredulity of the folk who enjoyed her show.  
“Just one more trick before we go, okay?” Cosima said while walking back to their car. Delphine raised one eyebrow “you are always prepared to perform, don’t you my magician?”  
“Yeah, it’s part of who I am, for me to perform is like breathing, it fills me with life” They walked to the parking lot when Cosima spotted another girl.  
“Hey dude you have time?, I need a favor” Cosima approached the girl.  
“Vhat you need?” the girl asked.  
“Have I seen you before?” Cosima tilted her head trying to remember if she indeed saw this girl with the green jacket.  
“I don’t think so.” The girl responded.  
“Anyway I’m Cosima” She extended her hand.  
“Helena” She shook the offered hand.  
“I have two bills here, can you check them out?” She offered the two bills to Helena, who examined them.  
“I’m gonna show you something rad.” Cosima took the two bills back, she placed them back to back.  
“Could you cut them right through the center?” She handed Helena a small scissor.  
“Are you sure? I don’t vant to ruin your money” Helena said.  
“Don’t worry, I can fix it” Helena cut the bills with the scissors like Cosima instructed. He now had four halves. She showed them to Helena.  
“Watch” Cosima took in hand two halves and in her other hand the other two halves. With her thumb she separated the halves and shook them opened. The two bills were back to normal.  
“лайно! That vas impressive” Helena had raised her eyebrows in wonder.  
“Thanks Helena, have a wonderful day” Cosima turned around and went to her car. Right behind her was Delphine when suddenly Helena spoke again.  
“Take care doctor” She put on her helmet and rode her bike.  
Delphine froze in place, she was pale and completely freaked out, how did he girl knew who she was if she never saw…and then it hit her. They saw this same girl right here, which could not be a coincidence.  
“You coming Delphine?” Cosima was already waiting inside the car. Delphine returned from her daze and moved on to get in the car.  
They went to the ice cream shop as they previously agreed, they discussed their plans for the night and once everything was settled they parted ways.  
_______________  
“Shit Scott, why are you still working on that thing?” Sarah asked.  
“Cosima wants me to fix the hatch, it’s getting stuck” Scott said.  
“Bloody hell, leave that thing alone, she is not going to do that shit. She really is going to blow up if she does that stupidity” Sarah walked towards Scott.  
“Seriously that is a really stupid idea, leave that alone Scott and go home, It’s late you know? Tomorrow we’re going to discuss the best tricks for Las Vegas, yeah?” Sarah patted Scott on the back and went back to the office, where Rachel was setting up their trip to Las Vegas.  
She entered the office and found Rachel seated at the desk, legs seductively crossed, and eyes on her laptop screen, she was typing when she raised her sight and rest her eyes on Sarah.  
“Sara, could you please clean those boots of yours, they are muddy and getting my rug very dirty” Rachel continued working.  
“Shit, you see me after how many hours and that is the first thing you notice?” Sarah seated in front of Rachel, legs apart, leaning down on her chair, body relaxed, she started fidgeting with a pen over the desk.  
“We need to talk with Cos, that last trick is not ready.” Sarah said.  
“I already ordered the explosives, but if you she is going to change that act we can save them for later” She kept working on her laptop.  
“We have two weeks to finish the transport of what she is going to use. Did you book our hotel and flights?”  
“Everything is under con…” Rachel stopped typing, her eyes fixed on the screen. She looked at Sarah and then back again to the screen. Sarah was frowning, her posture more tense now.  
“Rachel? Is something wrong?” Rachel was silent for a moment.  
“It’s leaked.” Those were the only words she said.  
Sarah stood up and went to Rachel’s side, she leaned over her shoulder to see at the screen.  
“Fuck me!” Rachel turned and looked at Sarah, eyebrow raised.  
“Shit, not literally Rachel. How the fuck did they find out about her repertoire?” Sarah shoved her hands in her pockets, pacing in the office thinking, what to do.  
“Everything is here Sarah, they do not mention any source, but this is the real thing.” Rachel scrolled through the screen.  
“Can we do something, I don’t know sue anyone?” Sarah was starting to freak out.  
“I’ll try to do my best to remove this, but the damage is done. She can’t go to Las Vegas when her tricks are already out and-“  
“Sonofabitch! Delphine! She was with Leekie, remember? Fuck fuck fuckity fuck I knew it Rachel. I have to tell Cos” Sarah took out her phone and dialed Cosima.  
_________________  
Cosima was finishing setting up the table before Delphine arrived, tonight she was going to make sure Delphine had a special dinner; she really wanted to make her feel better and happy. She had no idea the real reason for Delphine’s behavior, but she was going to find out right this second. Her phone blasted her ringtone, she hurried to pick up in case it was Delphine, when she checked the screen she saw it was her twin.  
“Hey Sarah, what’s up” Cosima answered dryly.  
“DELPHINE SOLD YOU OUT” Sarah spatted.  
“Wait what? Sarah slow down what the hell are you talking about?” Cosima was definitely not getting what was going on with her sister.  
“Listen Cosima your tricks are all over the internet, the new ones as well. Delphine sold you out to Leekie”  
“No! Sarah what are you talking about. She wouldn’t do that.” Cosima went to her bedroom’s desk to open her laptop.  
“Bloody hell Cos, I saw her yesterday with Leekie in the fucking coffee shop. Did you knew? I bet no. She told him, who else could do it, huh?”  
“What? And you knew it and you preferred to shut your mouth!?” Cosima was in denial and angry.  
“Shit Cos that is not the point, just check the link I sent to your phone, yeah?” Sarah was trying to make her understand but she knew she had to see with her own eyes.  
“Wow Sarah you are very helpful.” Cosima was being sarcastic now, her feelings a mixed of anger, fear and disappointment.  
“Cos, please-“  
“Sarah, go to hell!!!” Cosima closed the call and threw the phone over her desk. She typed the link on her computer and saw. In that moment her whole world came crashing down, her throat dried, she gulped. No, nope, this is not…shit Cos this are all your tricks. But how? And that is exactly what she was going to find out. Delphine and Leekie, she was the one who invited you, she was a fan but never met him, and Sarah said they met yesterday?  
Cosima started typing like crazy looking any link between Delphine and Aldous Leekie, after a couple of minutes she ended in an event held in Paris last year where Aldous Leekie was performing and then she saw. She just stared at the screen in complete resignation, she had been fooled.  
_____________  
“Bonsoir ma chérie” Delphine entered the apartment, she was so happy to be with with her magician tonight. She headed to kiss Cosima, who was seating at the table with her laptop, her head resting over her arm that was  
“I brought the truffles that I promised you” Delphine went to the kitchen counter and left her bags over there.  
“I am so stupid!” Cosima said and showed her the laptop screen.  
Delphine turned around, the smile on her face disappeared as soon as she saw her picture with Aldous Leekie at the fundraise gala in Paris. She sighed and bowed her head in shame.  
“You told him all my tricks didn’t you, you knew him from before the show you invited me” Cosima accused and added “I wanted to trust you”.  
“I am so sorry” Delphine approached her slowly, right now Cosima was like a wounded animal, one misstep and she was going to lose her chance to explain herself. She tried to reach her to no avail.  
“Please listen to me, you were in danger Cosima” Delphine got closer to her, she was face to face now. Desperate to make her plea for forgiveness.  
“Danger? From what?” Cosima asked looking dead serious.  
“I am not sure”  
Cosima laughed sarcastically “You are the real danger Delphine” Cosima stood up and walked away from the French woman. Her eyes were getting watery, but she was determined to not show her how much her treason hurt, she was going to be strong.  
“What else did you told him?” Cosima wiped the tears away from her eyes.  
“Just the main tricks. I did not told him about the last one!” She tried to let her know that even thought she was a traitor she did not sold her out completely. That was her last thread of hope. She tried to reach for her again, but Cosima was keeping her distance.  
“Cosima please let me explain” Delphine pleaded.  
“GET OUT!” Cosima screamed with all her fury.  
“I didn’t want to fall for you. I wasn’t supposed to. But I have” Delphine poured all her truth into those words.  
“How can you say that?” Cosima’s voice almost broke, her lip quivering, trying to contain the tears that were menacing to run free.  
“Because you feel it!” Delphine said it out loud and added “You know, I have never been with a woman before”  
“Yeah, it showed” Cosima looked her straight into her eyes, saying the most hurtful thing she could have said. Delphine stood up in surrender and left her apartment. Once she was gone Cosima released al her pain and sorrow, crying, her soul broken into million pieces, the magic was over.  
The beautiful night that Cosima had planned ended in hurt, pain and anger. The magician had been betrayed, her love was a joke for the likes of Leekie who used that to his advantage in this game. With less than two weeks for the show that could boost her career and all her magic tricks in the open she had to risk it all, and make the impossible possible. What is going to happen now? the fluff is gone and all that is left is angst. Welcome to the trip man and hang tight ‘cus what is coming is going to be much worse.  
The rest is a story for another day.


	17. Chapter 17

When Sarah arrived Cosima was still crying in her room. The sound of her sobbing tore through her heart. She had expected her sister to be very sad, but not this broken. She really had fallen hard for the doctor.  
“Cos, please let’s talk, yeah?” Sarah stood near her bed, wanting to comfort her, to tell her that everything was going to be okay.  
“Talk? Shit Sarah, to tell me what I already know? That you were right, that I was a fool for trusting her!?” Cosima spat, taking her anger out on her sister.  
“No Cos, it’s not like that! I know you’re hurtin’ right now, but I just want you to know that I’m here for you.” Sarah tried to reach out for her sister, but she was still too upset.  
“Why you didn’t tell me? You think that lying to me was a way to protect me? Don’t be naïve, Sarah! I am a grown woman, I can take it, but no, even my own sister lies to me as well!” Cosima stared out her window, turning her back to Sarah.  
“I see you’re quite straightforward, Cos.”  
“No, I’m gay.” Cosima joked, sniffling through her tears.  
Sarah laughed at her terrible joke. At least she was trying to get out of her hole of sadness.  
“Leave me alone Sarah, please.” Cosima begged.  
“Cos, maybe if we-“  
“I said LEAVE!” Cosima screamed.  
Sarah got the message; she turned around and went right to her room. She switched on her radio to try to muffle the sound of her sister sobbing next door. Sarah was going to make the doctor pay. God help her, she was going to kick her French arse.  
________________  
Cosima didn’t want to think of Delphine, yet there was no way to make her subconscious eliminate Delphine so quickly. She probably was going to dream of her, but she suspected it was going to be more like a nightmare. That night, Cosima laid on her side of the bed, the left one, staring at the spot where Delphine was supposed to be. Her spot was empty on the bed, and her absence hurt so much. The worst was that her pillow smelled of her, the sheets, everything was mixed with her scent. She craved her, but each and every time she remembered what Delphine had done. How could she look her in the eye and tell her that she loved her, when she was stabbing her in the back?  
She noticed the significant dolphin bracelet still on her wrist, and she took it off. While she was tempted to throw it away, she couldn’t do it, at least not now. Her situation was now completely fucked; there was no way in hell that she had the time to develop new tricks for Las Vegas. She was lost. What was she going to do now? Maybe it was best if she forgot about that show. But the magician was a fighter. She was brave and she was going to do what she did best. She was going to do crazy magic.  
The early the next day Cosima went to her workshop, where Scott was there waiting, just like she told him to be last night.

“Listen up Scott. We’ve been betrayed and the tricks we had are of no use to us except the escapism illusion. I need you to work on that damn hatch. We have two days tops, to do that.” Cosima took out her notebook, the one that Delphine had stained with her lies and scribbled a few notes, then showing it to Scott.  
“Dude, I get what you want to do, but first you need to time your escape attempt in order to synchronize the explosion.” Scott scratched his head and adjusted his glasses.  
“Just do it. I’ll practice day and night until I get the time we need. We have 10 days exactly to have this thing ready. It’s all or nothing at this point.” The clicks sounding on the pavement interrupted their conversation.  
“About time you showed up, Rachel,” Cosima said.  
“Why are we here so early in the morning Cosima?” Rachel stood with her arms crossed, rather annoyed.  
“I need the explosives as soon you get them. I also have a list of things I need you to get.” Cosima handed her the list. Rachel revised the list of items.  
“Okay, I’ll do what I can. But you do realize that Sarah is not going to like that you are pushing for that trick?” Rachel asked curiously.  
“It’s not her call. Get my things ASAP, got it?” Cosima went back to work with Scott.  
Cosima knew that to really blow the minds of the audience in Las Vegas, she had to be bold. This trick was what she needed to impress, but she could get hurt in the process. Still, she was finding more and more that she didn’t care. She actually found comfort on doing something she loved so much, no matter the consequences.  
“All right Scott, I need you to handcuff my hands and count my time, okay? According to the tests done to the explosives, I have one minute and 35 seconds to get the hell out of there or I’m toast. It’s better if I do this in 60 seconds, so that’s what I’m gonna aim for.”  
Once Scott had her ready he gave her a thumbs up. She nodded and the timer started. Cosima took out her lock pick and worked as fast as she could, struggling until the cuffs finally fell to the floor. When she requested the time, it wasn’t looking so good.   
105 seconds.  
Cosima knew she was in deep shit. The following days were going to be a real pain in the ass while she was trying to lower that time. She was going to feed on her pain in her attempt to beat Leekie at his own game. However, she was going to do it without her love. That was what pained her the most, as she missed her other half, but there was no time to dwell on the past. Delphine was out of her life and that was it, period.  
_____________________  
The next couple of days Delphine didn’t sleep at all. She drank far more wine than necessary, and worked endless hours in order to distract herself from her suffering. She dreamt of Cosima, the way she had kissed each and every freckle on her back, how she nuzzled her neck, her hands moving loving across every part of her body. Delphine’s eyes burned so much from crying. Her pillows were always be wet with tears now. She knew she had ruined it, and she was desperate to seek Cosima out, but what was she going to say? Cosima didn’t give a shit to what she had to tell. She had to show her, but how?

She told Leekie that Cosima was aware that it was over. She didn’t care about the consequences anymore; she had been a coward, but that wasn’t going to happen anymore. She was on Cosima’s side now, and she was going to do whatever it took to show her how much she cared.  
Delphine went to work as usual. She would get to her office and make and run tests over and over again. She was burying herself in work to avoid thinking of her magician. Well, she had lost the right to call Cosima hers. That was a huge problem now.  
“Are you going to tell me what is going on with you, Delphine?” Katja took off her shades and sat on the other side of Delphine’s desk.  
“It’s nothing Katja. Let’s focus on this results, oui?” Delphine avoided Katja’s stare. This was the last thing she wanted to talk about, as it made it all more real.  
“Dumm Arzt lügen nicht. It has to do with Cosima, or else you wouldn’t be this much of a mess.” Katja was fairly certain on her claim. Delphine never looked this sad, and her bloodshot eyes were evidence of too much crying. She was so distracted lately; it was more than obvious that something was wrong.  
Delphine sighed, ducking her head so both hands cradled it. She closed her eyes for a moment. “I ruined it. I hurt her, and now it’s over.” Her voice cracked, but no tears would come.

“I am sorry to hear that, but I’m not going to deny that it isn’t good news for me. Nonetheless, I know that what you two had was the real deal. I can’t come back into the picture after you,” Katja simply stated the facts.  
Delphine gave her a condescending smile. “Merci, I guess.” At least she was going to fulfill this promise. She was going to save Katja, for Cosima; she was going to show her how much she loved her by helping her friend and ex-lover. That she could do.  
The days passed and Delphine was dying to see Cosima. She yearned to at least to explain herself, she owed her that. After playing with her phone on her desk for what felt like ages, she finally decided to text her. Please, answer me Cosima, she prayed. After a couple of minutes she got a reply. Tomorrow at the workshop. That was good, at least she allowed her to see her.  
When she was getting ready to go home she found Aldous waiting for her at the parking lot. Near him was the weird blonde, Helena, who was playing with a knife.  
“Aldous, I thought I explained myself clearly. Cosima kicked me out of her life; I am of no use to you.”  
“Yes, I am aware. I am heading to Las Vegas now, we will probably never see each other again, which is a shame. I just wanted to make sure that you are going to remain silent. You will not disclose any information, or my dear Helena will have to take care of you.”  
“Va te faire foutre, trouduc!” Delphine kept walking towards her car, bumping Aldous with her shoulder; she was done with this crap. She turned on the engine and drove far away.

 

“Helena? Make sure to kill her after I am out of the country. Once I win in Las Vegas I will take a flight to Europe. I’ll text you, be ready,” Aldous said.  
“You better give me money. 50% yes? Or I’ll take your head instead. Once I kill, you pay me rest. Now, I must eat.” Helena put her knife away, covered her face with her hoodie and walked away.  
________________  
Cosima had no idea why she had allowed her to come, but she could not refuse her. It was almost two weeks after her heart had been blown to pieces, and she was letting the woman who did it come near her again. She was really stupid.  
She tried again for the millionth time getting the handcuffs off. She had lowered the time to 75 seconds, still it was too close to the explosion time.  
“For fuck’s sake Cos, forget about that stupid trick. You aren’t going to make it in time!” Sarah stopped the clock at 77 seconds.  
“Sarah, we leave tomorrow for Las Vegas! I am not backing down and this is what I’m going to do. If you’re not going to be helpful, then back off!” Cosima was getting ready for another round of practice.

“Scott, this time we’re gonna do it for real. Get the explosive in position. We already verified that the box can hold the explosion after a couple of tries, but now we have to test it with me inside.” Cosima put on her safety glasses on and a vest. Scott handcuffed Cos and helped her get inside the box.  
Sarah was pacing from one side to the other, getting extremely anxious and scared for her sister. She had the timer ready; if her sister wasn’t out at the 70 sec mark she was getting her out of there.  
Scott gave the thumbs up, and the clock started ticking. Cosima worked as fast as she could, picking the lock with dexterity, but the damn pins were difficult to release. Sarah kept looking at the timer 45s, 55s, 60s, cuffs on the floor. “Get the hell out Cosima!” Sarah screamed, but her twin was still inside. She ran like hell and opened the door, pulling Cosima out and then BOOM, smoke everywhere.

Sarah and Cos were coughing, the smoke already dissipating. Both girls were on the floor.  
“What the hell Cosima!? Don’t pull that shit on me again! You gave up on me right then and there, fuck!” Sarah was screaming not in anger but in fear. Her sister was ready to let go, but she saw it on her face. She pulled Cosima closer.  
“Sorry okay? I just, it passed through my mind that it would be easier to forget if I…sorry” Cosima was pretty shaken up. She realized how much it hurt, if she weren’t taking shelter on her magic she probably would be abusing drugs to erase the pain. She ignored her feelings and shut down inside her magic, but now it felt raw and real.  
In that instant she heard the voice that turned her into jelly. Delphine.  
“Excusez moi, is Cosima around?” Delphine stood in the entrance of the workshop, looking beautiful. Long legs were tightly hugged by blue jeans, and a dark cardigan draped over her white tank top. Cosima removed her goggles and put back on her black rimmed glasses. She saw her there and that was the most painful feeling in the world, her heart fluttering just like the first time she saw her. Two weeks without seeing her was the worst.   
Stupid.  
Sarah stood up and walked straight to Delphine, her hands curled into fists; she was going to literally kick her arse.  
“Sarah, wait!” Cosima tried to stop her twin, but Sarah was blinded by anger. She was going to kill Delphine.  
Delphine’s face was pale, her eyes locked into Sarah’s stare. She gulped once, but she did not back off. She held her ground, which was pretty hot and pretty stupid in Cosima’s opinion.  
“You bitch!” Sarah pushed Delphine into the wall and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. Delphine was pretty scared by now, but her eyes never faltered. She kept looking at Sarah.  
“I should strangle you to death,” Sarah whispered.  
“I am sorry Sarah, please let me do this right!” Delphine pleaded.  
“Sarah, goddamit let her go, I told her to come.” Cosima ran towards her sister and tried to pull her sister off Delphine.  
“You did what? Shit.” Sarah punched the wall right beside Delphine, who had closed her eyes, expecting to receive the impact. Sarah released the taller woman, who put her hand protectively on her neck.  
“I’ll be in the office, yeah?” And she was gone.  
Delphine released the breath she was holding. She looked at Cosima who had her face smeared with ashes. She was so tempted to clean her face, but that was a big NOPE, so she put her hands in her pockets instead.  
“What do you want, Delphine?” Cosima asked, her voice cold and distant.  
“I want to clear things up between us. I know I did many wrong things, and if you don’t want to see me ever again after I told Leekie everything, I’ll understand, but Leekie is dangerous, you need help.” Cosima walked towards the couch at the corner of the workshop and took a seat, Delphine followed.  
Cosima heard Delphine retell her story. How she had met Leekie in Paris, how she had a fling or whatever with him, which made her heart hurt a little bit more. His plans to request her support and use her to boost his dying career. How Delphine met her by accident, and how she got closer to her under Leekie’s request to persuade her to join him. The hardest part was to listen Delphine tell her how she really started to develop feelings for her, but her face did not show any emotion throughout Delphine’s tale. She continued, after she went for the eskimo pies, Delphine took pictures of her notebook and sent them to Leekie, and was how he got the info.  
“And that’s how it went,” Delphine concluded.  
Cosima tried to process all the information, though it was too much. Her heart was a complete chaos, battling with her logic how it was a bad idea to allow Delphine back in.  
“All right, if that’s it, then you can leave now,” Cosima said dryly.  
Delphine sighed. “Just know that I’m on your side now, oui?” Delphine stood up, and with one last look to her magician she left. When she was near the exit Sarah appeared near the door.  
“One thing before I go, there is a woman, who actually looks like you, with blond curly hair, bloodshot eyes. Be careful, she works for Leekie and she is dangerous.” Delphine kept walking, feeling heavy with the pain of losing the most magical woman she was ever going to meet in her life.  
Sarah stood frowning, her memory working, she snapped her finger “I saw her, the girl with the bike, she was spying on us. Shit!”  
“I, uh, I’m going to take a break, finish packing the things for me please?” Cosima needed space to clear her head. She felt like crying, but she was tired from crying too much already. She had to regain her concentration to do what she had to do, and go to Las Vegas and kick Leekie in the nuts, magically speaking.

The time for the showdown has come; two rivals will fight on stage for supremacy. Who will prevail, Aldous Leekie or the young magician Cosima Niehaus? Could this time go well for Cosima? With her heart into pieces, can she really overcome adversity and rise again? You will have to wait and see, don’t blink or you will miss the end. For now, let’s leave this story for another day.


	18. Chapter 18

“Ladies and gentleman! Once again, welcome to the most unbelievable act in the whole world! Magicians from around the world are gathering here to marvel and make the impossible happen!” The announcer said.  
Cosima was backstage getting ready for her act. Mostly it was focusing on the one trick that she still had difficulties with, but she also prepped a few other tricks that were quick and easy to do, little crowd-pleasers. She wanted to scare the audience shitless with her final act, and hopefully she was going to live to tell about it.   
The woman who was reflected from the mirror was sad and worn. She could tell from their eyes, and there was just no point in denying the obvious. She dearly missed Delphine, but it was hard to forgive her, particularly because of the history between her and Leekie. She knew that people had pasts, but she did not expect to encounter that the one person she despised the most did the frick frack with Delphine. That was a big “What the eff?!” for Cosima.  
“Cos, you’re up after the guy currently on stage,” Rachel said.  
“Cool, thanks.” Cosima checked herself in the mirror a final time and turned around, closing her eyes to refocus herself. Today she wore one of her favorite outfits; her dreads in a bun, black leggings under a short skirt and a red tank top. She was ready, heartbroken but ready. Not bad Niehaus, could be worse, she thought.  
A knock on the door startled her; she blinked her eyes open suddenly and went to open the door. She suspected that it was a staff member sent to notify her that it was her time, but she wasn’t expecting him.

“Good evening Cosima, how are you this marvelous night? Aldous asked jovially.  
“Mr. Leekie, what brings you here?” she answered, pretty pissed.  
“I have to say that I am truly disappointed. I was expecting a positive response to my offer, but lucky you, at least you got to enjoy the goods.” He was taunting her. The son of a bitch was referring to Delphine like merchandise, the fucker.  
“Oh, I could never accept an offer to work with you. We have different methods and it wasn’t meant to be, but the goods? I plan to keep them.” She smiled. Damn right! She was being cheeky as hell, as usual.  
Leekie stared at her, very amused by the stubbornness and will shown from this girl. She certainly was not a stupid one, but she was definitely going to fall for his schemes.  
“Very well Cosima, may the best win.” He turned around curtly and walked away.  
Cosima closed the door, leaning into it heavily as it shut. She released her breath slowly to regain her focus. She was going to beat that guy in front of this entire crowd, she had to do it. The worst thing about the show was the she had beat herself already. Since the bastard had stolen her tricks, it was probable he was going to do her shit. She was ready, she could do this. She could outdo Aldous Leekie. She just had to.  
________________  
Delphine did what she had to. It didn’t matter if it was late already, she refused to let him win.  
“Oui monsieur, all documents are attached. You can read my report in detail. Merci.” She closed the call.  
She no longer cared if he retired his money. She had done what was right, and now that the authorities knew about his plans, he couldn’t do any more harm.  
Delphine knew it was already late, but she couldn’t go home, not when she knew Cosima was doing something extremely dangerous in an attempt to impress the audience. So instead of worrying for Cosima, she invested all of her interest into the data she had collected. It seemed that the results were actually. really good, Katja’s antibodies had not reacted to the artificial cells she designed, and the graph showed a decline in the number of cells that were carrying the mutation.  
At least she had done something good. She was about to save the life of Katja Obinger. 

She had the cure.

She sent a message to Katja to arrange a meeting tomorrow to discuss what she had to do next, which of course was going to happen as far away as possible from San Francisco. In the morning she presented her resignation to the program. She had already told her aunt about her decision, which made her and Antoine very sad, but it was for the best. She couldn’t stay here any longer, as her presence had caused so much damage that the least she could do was give her brave magician the space she needed to move on. As much as it pained her, it was for the best.  
_________________  
“Listen to me Sara! Whatever happens, don’t panic. You have to trust me.” Cosima was next up, and while her equipment was being placed onstage she reassured her twin that everything was going to go well.  
“Bloody hell Cos, how can I be okay when I know that this shit can go terribly wrong?” Sarah was very reluctant to let her go, and she was afraid of all the frightening things that could occur.  
Cosima hugged Sarah tightly, and the sisters embraced long and close. Sarah looked once more to her sister, worried, and Cosima smiled.  
“I'm ready Sarah; I promise you it’s going to be hella cool.”  
“And now, from the Bay Area we have one young lady who has under her belt many great feats of magic. PLEEEEASE WELCOOOOME COSIMAAAA NIIIIIEHAUUUUUUS!” the host announced her. The audience clapped excitedly. Cosima glanced one more time at her sister and ran out onto the stage.  
“Good evening all! I am so happy to be here in Las Vegas among such great company. Tonight, I've prepared something really simple but mind-blowing for all of you. Are you ready!?”  
“YEEEESSSS!!!” The audience was definitely ready.  
“I’m going to share with you something personal. I met someone that made me so happy, so happy that I could feel that I was flying." All of a sudden Cosima was floating around, the thunderous applause followed her ascent.  
“It was so beautiful that I could have burned up from happiness, seriously.” A ball of fire appeared in her hand, and she juggled it for a bit. She descended to the floor and the ball dissipated.  
“But, it seems nothing lasts forever. Now that I'm alone I feel just the coldness in the air seeping through my blood.” She put her hand inside a fishbowl, the water slowly turned into ice.  
More applause followed from the audience.

“Now my heart feels like blowing up. And tonight this is what I am going to do.” Cosima walked to the center stage where she unveiled her magic box.  
“Inside this box there are some explosives and my goal is to escape before it blows in 90 seconds. My assistant here is going to put these handcuffs on me, and you are going to be able to witness everything. Once I'm inside, you'll see the clock start. Let’s hope I can make it out!”  
The whole theatre was silent at that moment, the spotlight shining brightly on Cosima. Scott came out and put the cuffs on her wrists. Cosima nodded when she was ready. Scott escorted her to the edge and helped her climb inside the box.  
Sarah was pacing from the side of the stage, worried about her sister. She knew that Cos had failed most of her practice rounds, and that idiot wanted to prove she could do this.  
The clock started the countdown; the tension could be felt in the air. Cosima struggled with the cuffs. 30s, she was struggling, 45s. The audience was getting very tense. Cosima was taking too long to release the cuffs, 55s. One hand was free, 65s. Finally she got her hands free. 70s. Sarah got extremely pale. She knew time was up. She had to get in and get Cosima out, but she then remembered her twin’s words. Trust me. She stood her ground, waiting anxiously. 85s.  
Cosima put her hand over the glass as the clock ticked on. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. BOOM. The box walls were stained with red, shocked gasps erupted from the audience. What the hell just happened? Did the magician really blow up in pieces?

Sarah ran out to the stage, pale and shaking, cautiously approaching the box stained with blood. “Cos? Please answer me,” Sarah said.  
She opened the door and smoke drifted out, red liquid dripping on the floor. The audience wasn't sure that what had happened was real or not. The people were getting anxious.  
“YO!” From the middle of the audience a familiar voice was heard. Sarah spun around, searching frantically, the spotlight looking as well.  
“Looking for me, twin?” Cosima stood up, wearing other clothes, in the middle of the center row of chairs. Sarah was seriously baffled; she had been scared to death. The thunderous applause muted the conversation that briefly went on between the sisters. Cosima ran back to the stage and bowed to the audience.  
“Thank you Las Vegas!” Cosima yelled before leaving the stage.  
“Holy shite Cos!” Sarah hugged her sister “Shit, I thought I lost you for real, what the hell?!”  
“Relax Sarah, I did tell you to trust me.” Cosima grinned; she kissed Sarah on the cheek and grabbed the bottle of water that was offered by Rachel. She drank the entire bottle and went to her assigned room, plopping down on the couch and relaxing.  
“Cos, how did you do it? I swear you blew up!" Sarah was wondering.  
“I knew that in order to pull off this illusion I had to make people think that the objective was to get rid of the cuffs, while in reality I just had to position myself in the box and play with my feet in order to activate the hatch that was going to send to me to the lift and get me to the audience in time.”  
“Okay, okay! You can stop dorking out now Cos, I get it.” Sarah was relieved that her sister was never in danger.  
“That was the conclusion I reached after so many failed attempts. I worked the changes with Scott and let your desperation play an important part on the show."  
“Bitch!” Sarah joked.  
“Sorry to interrupt, but I've got news” Rachel entered the room all of a sudden.  
The sisters stared at her, waiting to see what Rachel had to say.  
“You’ve won!”  
Cosima frowned. “What? But how? I mean, how do you know for sure?”  
“The jury closed with our presentation. Aldous Leekie was not considered because someone provided evidence of foul play. He is presenting right now, but the jury closed the votes when you finished.”  
“You did it Cos!” Sarah stood up and celebrated.   
“We did it, you mean.” Cosima hugged her sister and thought of Delphine, did she have something to do with this? Now that was the question.  
____________  
“So you are leaving?” Katja asked in complete shock.  
“Oui, but like I said, I will continue developing your treatment. We need to make sure to replicate the cell I designed and you will get better, but I need to do it from France.” Delphine hoped Katja could understand her current situation and provide her with what she needed to continue this project.  
“I see, you are running away, ja?” Katja put on her sunglasses.  
“Non, it’s not like that Katja! This is for the best. I promise I’m going to help you and I will finish this cure. I am going to require your sponsorship to complete it, but you have my word, Katja,” Delphine reassured her.

Katja took out a card from her wallet; she scribbled a couple of things on it and handed it to Delphine, who took it.  
“When you get to France call me on that number, I will provide whatever you need. I will be forever grateful, you gave me hope, Delphine. I will arrange some things here and I will join you in Europe soon.” Katja took her car keys and stood. She offered the immunologist her hand, and Delphine shook it.  
“See you soon, Katja." Delphine watched her as she left. Now she only had to go home and finish packing her things.  
Delphine was driving home when she noticed herself taking a detour straight to Cosima’s place. She sighed, parking near the sidewalk. The lights were on in her window, which meant that they had returned from Las Vegas. She gripped the wheel as hard as she could, trying to contain the urge to get out and see her, at least one more time before she left forever. She closed her eyes and hoped that if she could see her from her window that it would be enough when a knock on the car’s window startled her.

“What the fuck are you doing here frenchie!?” Sarah was not pleased, not at all.  
“Merde, eh... Nothing! I just, I was passing by, and nothing...” Delphine turned on the car again, ready to get the hell away.  
“Shit Sarah, could you stop making so much noise and get away from the car?” Cosima appeared out of nowhere, stepping closer to the driver’s side to speak with Delphine.  
“Hey, um, could we talk for a minute?” She asked.  
“Oui, sure.” Delphine turned off the engine and got out.  
“I just want to say thanks. I know you had to do with the evidence that showed Leekie’s true colors, so yeah… That’s it.” Cosima said in a tone that made her heart ache.  
“You don’t have to say anything cher- I mean Cosima. It was the right thing to do.” Delphine gave her a small smile. She wanted so badly to touch her one more time, but if she did, she wasn’t going to be capable of going away. Cosima just stared at her, with so much hurt showing in her expression and her eyes that it pained Delphine as well.  
They were face to face, with only a couple of feet separating them. One of them only had to move just a bit to reach the other, and it was so close and so dangerous. In that instant Sarah pushed Delphine, and Cosima got in between. Then, everything stopped.  
“Cosima?” Sarah asked in concern.  
“Cosi- Mon Dieu!” Delphine then saw it, the stain of blood on her chest. They watched her collapse onto the asphalt.  
“COSIMAAAAA!!!” Delphine screamed.  
Destiny was cruel in it’s own right. Bad things happened to good people, and the young magician was now bathed in her own blood because her path was one of love and pain. There is no way she could escape, she was in the right place at the right time. This was her fate, since the day she was born, it had been written in stone.  
If you can’t take this anymore, the story ends right here, right now. I will stop. But, I bet you want to know what happens now. Will she be able to beat the odds and be who she really believes she can be? Will her will to fight keep her alive?  
The story is coming to an end, but that day is not today; let’s leave it for another day.


	19. Chapter 19

Helena had been shadowing the French woman all day, waiting patiently while eating delicious red Jello; she just wanted her money and to disappear, as usual. Her line of work had always been like this; kill for a huge amount of money and then disappear, like the ghost she was. She knew she had to be careful; she was one of the most wanted by the Interpol after killing two ambassadors in front of their security.

In the underworld she was known as the Angry Angel, and if you wanted to hire her you had to pay massive amounts for her services. It wasn’t even that she used the money, as she was just a loner, abandoned in a convent in Ukraine 28 years ago. Since then she had been adopted by Tomas, the fucker who abused her, and because of him she learned how to cause the most amount of pain while keeping her victim alive. She was lethal, and there was absolutely no doubt about it.

She wanted to take it easy, but then this Leekie man contacted her and she accepted. It was easy money, but this girl, the magician, she was not evil. She did marvelous things and the taller girl that was in love with her was also very good to her, not like Tomas. She was going to do her job, but she did not like to kill innocent people. It was not part of God’s plan.

The French woman finished talking with the redhead, and she watched them say their farewells and get into their respective cars. Time to follow. The French girl probably was going to go back home to finish packing. Helena put on her helmet, turned on her bike and followed the French at a distance. After minutes of driving without a course, Helena noticed where they were heading. The French was going to see the girl in red.  
Helena parked her bike and walked to the building in front of the magician’s house to have a vantage point. The blonde just sat inside the car. At that moment, her phone rang.  
“Da?” Helena answered, still observing.  
“Do it! Kill Delphine. Your deposit was already transferred,” Leekie said.  
“I will verify, yes?” Helena pressed a couple of buttons on her phone. When she confirmed the transfer she continued, “чудовий, I will proceed, when done you pay the rest.” She closed the call. She noticed that the twin had arrived, Sarah. Helena went to her bike for her bag, where she had her compact sniper rifle, an SRT-57, inside. She climbed to the rooftop where she could shoot comfortably from, and see the French woman could enter the apartment. She was thinking she could shoot her when she gets out or...

The magician! Now vhat? They are in middle of street, lots of people. I have to do this fast. Helena quickly armed her weapon and laid on the floor, looking through the scope and carefully aiming at the blonde’s chest. She released her breath, slowly, trying to reduce the beating of her heart, the wind was coming from the northwest so she had to adjust her shot a little.

The women were just looking at each other, so now it was the moment that she had a clean shot, her index finger had to pull the trigger in 3, 2, 1.  
BANG!  
“layno! Shit!” At that precise moment the punk intervened and the dreadlocked twin got right in the trajectory of the bullet. She fell to the floor, with blood streaming everywhere.  
“COSIMAAAAA!” The blonde screamed. She immediately took out her phone, which meant it was time to go, the ambulance and police were going to come.  
She picked up her things and looked once more at the scene she had caused below her. The punk was looking right at her and starting to run in her direction.  
Helena had to bolt right then and there. She took the fire escape and got down as fast as she could. When she reached the groundfloor the punk was right behind her. “Oi! You bitch!” She was pretty fast, Helena had to take her down or else she wasn’t going to be able to escape, but she couldn’t leave behind another body. If she did, this was going to be a huge mess. 

This was supposed to be easy.  
Sarah jumped the girl with the green jacket, rolling them both onto the floor. Sarah punched as hard as she could, but Helena was a cold blooded assassin. She blocked Sarah’s attacks and swung back, hitting hard against Sarah’s ribs, but she was tough as nails, so she shook off the pain and kicked out at a surprised Helena. Helena fell and Sarah resumed her attack. Helena blocked and kicked, throwing Sarah off of her and took out her knife. Once on top of the punk she put the knife tightly against her neck. Sarah raised her hands in surrender. Her face was swollen, all beaten up but her eyes were full of rage and fight.

“I am sorry, you made her move and I failed.” Helena pressed the knife in, drawing a thin line of blood.  
“Delphine? You were supposed to kill her? Well shite.” Sarah was so angry that the adrenaline numbed the pain in her ribs and face. But her survival instincts were on, her hands trying to grab anything to defend herself.  
“You made me fail, I should help you meet your seestra.” She pressed the knife harder, at the background the sound of sirens.  
Sarah’s hands found a piece of rebar and stabbed her through the side with it. In shock, Helena dropped the knife and stood up. The sound of sirens was stronger now. She was bleeding, so there was no point staying. She had to go now, so she put her hoodie on and ran away.  
______________  
The ambulance took Cosima to the hospital with Sarah by her side, and Delphine following in her car.  
Once the ambulance reached the hospital, the paramedics immediately took her to the ER. Sarah was held in the waiting room, desperate for her twin, tears falling over her bloodied face. Delphine tried to comfort her, but was pushed away. A nurse took Sarah to an examination room while Delphine gave her statement to the police.

Each minute seemed like an eternity. Delphine sat, waiting for news while Sarah paced in desperation. Her face was streaked with tears, and her wounds already tended to, but the uncertainty of what was going on inside the ER was much worse than the raw pain Sarah felt.  
Delphine approached Sarah again “Sarah you need to sit down and wait, please.”  
“Shut up! This is all your fault, you were the one who had to go, not her!” Sarah spat in anger.  
She kept going. “But I had to put Cosima in danger, I’m the one who put her in harm’s way. Oh God, I did this.” She covered her face with her hands at the realization.  
“Bloody hell, I am so sorry Cos. God.” She started crying with more intensity. She turned around and left, sprinting.

“Sarah!?” Delphine called her name. She tried to pursue Sarah, but the Brit had run away as fast as she could from the hospital. Delphine couldn’t leave Cosima alone, so she returned and waited for news.  
After unknown amount of time the surgeon came out to speak with a family member, but the only one who was still there was Delphine.

“The shot tore apart an artery and we did our best in repairing it, but the loss of blood was massive and she had a stroke in the middle of surgery. We brought her back with some difficulty, so right now she is stable but still at risk. We’re going to have to move her to the ICU, and the next 24 hrs. are going to be critical.”  
“Can, can I see her?” She asked, sobbing.  
“Well, maybe a very quick visit. A nurse will let you know when you can.” Delphine nodded.

Once the doctor left, Delphine sat down and cried. Her heart was now completely shattered; Sarah was right, she was responsible for putting her in danger. However, now there was no way she could leave for France when she had no idea if Cosima was going to survive. She simply couldn’t go. A nurse came for her minutes later and guided her to a set of doors.  
“There she is, put this robe and mask on, just a minute ma’am.” The nurse handed her the robe, she put them on and when she saw her magician with her eyes closed, wearing an oxygen mask, all tangled with tubes, Delphine couldn’t contain her tears.  
“Chérie, be strong, your twin needs you. I need you, sil’vous plait.” The nurse touched her shoulder lightly. It was time to leave. She caressed her hand and left.

She called her aunt to notify her of the current events, as she didn’t want to worry her. She also told her about canceling her flight to France. Right now she had to go home, shower and grab a new set of clothes since her own were stained with Cosima’s blood. She was not going to be away from her. She needed to be here for her magician, but first things first.  
_____________  
Sarah was back home, sprawled on the couch with a glass of bourbon in her hand. She continually filled the glass from the large bottle waiting on the table and drained it in a single gulp. This was all she did as soon as she got home. Cosima’s black rims were resting on the table before Sarah. When they were in the ambulance, Sarah had removed her glasses and put them in her pocket, and when she had returned home, alone, she had put them onto the table and stared at them, lost in her memories.

“I failed you dork, I was supposed to take care of you,” She whispered to the black rims sitting on the table, drinking her whiskey.  
She kept drinking all night. When she had finished one bottle and was moving on to the second, she had no idea what time was or where she was, she only had her guilt and that was enough for her. A knock on the door brought her briefly back to reality.  
“Leave!” she yelled.

“Sarah, open the door!” It was the voice of the French. Sarah struggled to get up, and she was pretty dizzy, but she was going to teach that woman to not mess with her family. As difficult as it was for her in her current state, she made it to the door opening it to reveal the sight of Delphine Cormier.

“I spoke with the doctor, she is stable right now,” Delphine said. Her expression was one of concern for Cosima’s twin.  
“Wha’? Not like whatcha see?” Sarah struggled to keep on her feet, everything was spinning around her. Dephine took ahold of her shoulder.  
“Don’tcha touch me hoe!” Sarah completely lost her balance trying to get away from Delphine, and fell to the floor.  
“Shite!” Her eyes closed, and the world went dark in an instant.  
___________  
Three days had gone by. Cosima’s condition neither improved nor worsened. Delphine spent much of her time in the hospital and the other part of it going to visit Sarah, who was having a drinking spree. Her tendency made her more aggressive and angry; still, she couldn’t allow her to keep doing that. She was Cosima’s twin and it was hard to see her like that, especially when you saw the hurt in her eyes, her face identical to her love.  
She visited Cosima and spoke to her, but wasn’t sure if Cosima wanted her there, so she spoke of Katja instead. She told her of the progress she had made with the treatment, and that she was going to make it.

“I did it Cosima, I fulfilled my promise. Katja is going to be completely fine in a couple of months. Now you can have your friend back, I know she cares about you a lot, chérie.” Delphine said to her dismay, but it was true, and Katja was probably a much better option than her at the moment.  
“I have to go to check on your sister, you get well soon.” Delphine dropped a feathery kiss on top of her forehead and walked out of the room.  
When she got to Sarah’s place, she heard a heated discussion through the walls. The door was ajar, so she simply stepped into the apartment.  
“You have to stop Sarah! Your sister needs you!” Rachel said.  
“Nah, I’’m the one who put her in there, yeah?” Sarah took a sip of her booze.  
“Sarah? Please stop, Helena did this, and I promise we are going to find her, but now you need to stop.” Rachel took the glass away from Sarah and poured the remainer of the glass into the sink.

That’s when she noticed the presence of the taller woman in the living room.  
“You might make her see reason. I have to go and to see if there’s news of Helena.” Rachel looked once more at Sarah before she exited the apartment.  
Delphine noticed how pale she looked, the bloodshot eyes complete evidence of lack of sleep, and she also looked thinner. Bottles of liquor were everywhere. It was seeing like Cosima all over again, and her heart melted at the thought.

“Why do you keep coming? I fucking despise you, and here you are again, Delphine!” Sarah was already tipsy, Delphine could easily see it by the way she walked. Delphine looked at her with compassion; it pained her that Sarah was feeling so incredibly guilty about Cosima’s injury that she was destroying herself in the process.  
Sarah tilted her head, just like Cosima did. It hurt a lot to be in the presence of this woman who was exactly like her. A single tear ran over her cheek at the sight.

Sarah walked where Delphine stood, her steps wobbly, and with the tip of her thumb she wiped the tear away.  
“Bloody hell, you’re staring at me just like you look at her.” For the first time, Sarah was seeing what her sister saw in the doctor’s eyes. Love.  
“I fucking hate you!” she spat, and pressed her lips to Delphine’s mouth. Delphine was caught by surprise; Sarah grabbed her by her neck, pulling her closer. Delphine struggled, but it was so hard when her lips felt like hers, when her hair was as soft as hers. Her lips tasted not of wine but whiskey, yet the softness was precisely like hers.  
Sarah pushed her against the counter, roughness extremely obvious. She was so angry at Delphine; she wanted to make her suffer. A sob escaped from her chest, and Delphine tried to pull away once again.

“Please, don’t!” Delphine said, sobbing.  
“Why?” Sarah asked.  
“You are not her.” Tears ran over her face.  
“Then don’t you ever look at me like that,” Sarah said with sad eyes. She pulled away completely and went to the kitchen to grab another bottle of liqueur. Delphine was here with the sole purpose of getting Sarah out of this hole, so she followed her and took the bottle away from her.  
“I know you hate me, oui? But I won’t let you do this, for Cosima.” Delphine poured the contents of the entire bottle in the sink.  
Sarah sat on a kitchen stool near the counter, cradling her head in her hands, tears streaming down her face. “I can’t hate you. I wanted to, but I know you love her. Maybe I like you too.”

“Qui? You?” Delphine was speechless; she wasn’t sure what she was hearing was right.  
“Now I get it, Rachel was right, it was jealousy. But it wasn’t for taking my sister, it was for taking you.”  
Delphine shook her head. “Non! How? You are drunk Sarah, you have no clue what you are saying.”  
“Maybe because I’m drunk is why I’m brave enough to admit it.” She sighed, long and heavy. “Maybe I’m just envious of what you two have, I want that for me as well.” Delphine gave her a glass of water and she gratefully accepted it.  
“You do know that your promoter has feelings for you, oui? She worries a lot about you,” Delphine said, trying to bring comfort to the troubled woman.  
“No, we have something more physical, it’s nothing serious.” Sarah simply shrugged the idea off.  
“Because you have been busy looking somewhere else!” Delphine joked at her. That made Sarah smile.  
“Cosima is going to be royally pissed when she hears this shit. But she’s gonna be fine, right?” Sarah said. Delphine nodded in agreement.

 

Two weeks later Cosima was moved to another room. Her vitals were stable but she was still breathing through a machine. Sarah stood with her, taking turns with Delphine.  
Delphine knew that it was time for her to go. She couldn’t do anything more for the young magician. She helped her twin and her ex-lover, and she had showed her how much she loved her, but now it was time to let her go.

“Are you really going to leave, Delphine?” Sarah asked again.  
“Oui, what I did to her was wrong. I should have done something, but I didn’t, and in the end she saved my life. Not just from Helena, but from Leekie as well. She gave me something that I never thought I could have. Love. I will be forever grateful, but she deserves better.” Delphine took Cosima’s hands between hers.  
“Vous serez toujours la chose la plus merveilleuse du monde à moi, mon magicien,” she whispered in her ear, and kissed her lovingly on her forehead.  
Delphine smiled at Sarah and gave her a hug. Sarah hugged her back tightly.  
Rachel cleared her throat. “Sorry to interrupt, but I have news,” she said with a weird tone. Delphine winked at Sarah, and she smiled in complicity.  
“What’s up Rachel?” Sarah said smiling at the rather pissed promoter.  
“They found the body of Aldous Leekie lying in a hotel in Las Vegas, apparently from a shot in the head, an execution, I would say.”  
Delphine quirked her eyebrow in surprise. “How did that happen?”  
“Helena.” Sarah said, very sure.  
“Well, I am not going to say that he deserved that, but he was not a good man. Anyhow, take care of her, Sarah, and goodbye.” Delphine looked to the bed once more, memorizing the scene to be stored away for eternity in her mind, and left.  
Time is up, and the show is going to end. The immunologist went to Europe and the magician remained in the hospital. What is going to happen? Is fate really going to split them apart? The last question that remains is, will the magician find the magic of love again?  
If you want to know, I have one more story to tell, but I bet you can wait, just one more day.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for taking the time to read this story, this was done with so much love for the characters and for you. Your motivation have inspired me to whole new levels, you have no idea. To all my loyal readers that have been with me since the beginning (you know who you are) thank you so much for sticking with my crazy writing and for the new readers I really hope you like what I did. It wouldn't hurt if you recommend this fic to your friends if you feel that they are missing an awesome story.  
> Huge thanks to my beta glynbearboo.tumblr.com, you have made of me a better writer dude, thank you.  
> It's really crazy that I have made already two multi-chapter stories, more than 100k words together, I never thought in a million years that I would be writing fanfics, this have change my life forever and I thank you for being with me every step of the way.  
> I have another project in the works, so if you are into fantasy, you might like this and if you don't read for the sake of something different (promotes self-work without shame)  
> You are really awesome and thank you for the support, feel free to leave your comments/questions/submissions in my blog.
> 
> Tanagariel

“Shit!”  
Sarah opened her eyes, and stood as fast as she could from the hospital couch. That voice was her twin’s, and there was no way she was dreaming it. She looked where she laid on the bed to find her awake.  
“Bloody hell! Cos!” She ran to her bed and hugged her carefully. Her teary eyes couldn’t believe it, but it was true, her twin was finally awake after weeks of being in a coma.  
“I’ll go get a doctor, don’t you dare fall asleep on me.” She stood up and ran to the nurse’s station.  
The doctor examined her and ordered a couple of medical tests, but everything was fair shape. She was still in pain, but the wound was healing and that was all that mattered.  
“So... How long have I been here?” Cosima asked in a raspy voice.  
“Almost a month since you got shot. Here you go.” Sarah handled her the black rims that framed her face, along with a small glass of water.  
“I got shot?” She was frowning, not remembering the events clearly. She took a hesitant sip.  
“Yes, a batshit crazy psycho was supposed to kill Delphine, but you got in the way so…”  
“Delphine? Where is she, is she okay?” Cosima sounded more concerned than she intended.  
“She’s gone. She left after you became completely stable.” Sarah moved a chair closer to Cosima’s bed, it was time to have the talk.  
“Gone? Where?” Cosima faced her sister, gulping because deep down she knew what it meant.  
“She went back to France.” Sarah let that sink in.

Cosima nodded. Just because they weren’t together anymore did not mean that she was over her. And now she was really gone. No more French accent-puppy eyes-beautiful laugh-Delphine.  
“And I might have been in love with her.” Sarah awaited Cosima’s response tentatively.  
Cosima looked up, staring back at Sarah. “You what!? You, in love with Delphine? Are you fucking kidding me?!” Cosima erupted like a volcano.  
“I wish, but yeah. I just realized awhile ago what was really going on with me. You see, I was mad because you had someone who looked at you like you were the most precious thing in the world. I wanted that for me, but in the process of hating Frenchie I might have developed a crush on her.”  
Cosima grabbed her head in disbelief. “You bitch! That was unexpected... But it totally does reaffirm the fact that I have good taste!” She smiled cheekily at her twin.  
Sarah smiled, more relaxed now. “Asshole.”  
“So she is really gone, huh?” Cosima said, more to herself than her twin. It was time for her to move on, to get better and keep doing what she loved most; magic.

 

A couple of days later and the magician was back on her feet. She immediately returned to work, and she had just got the invitation to the International Magic Festival in Edinburgh. Her dream was finally coming true.

Everything seemed to be back to normal, the routine resumed to it’s normal schedule. Wake up, go to the workshop and prepare her new live performance. She had been able to get a couple of sponsors, and with that she had what she needed to do her own live show for a longer period of time. The tickets were completely sold out for the first week, which showed how much popularity she had gained. She couldn’t be more content with this; at least she was busy enough to avoid thinking about the French woman who had broken her heart.

“This illusion is going to be awesome! If we can switch a member of the audience it’ll totally be more credible,” Cosima explained to Scott.  
They were preparing their best trick for the Edinburgh festival; she had to present her show in 8 weeks. This time, she wanted to make the show more interactive with the audience. Her idea was to teleport the guest from one magic chamber to the other while under hypnosis to make the experience more believable to the participant.  
“We have to make the exchange of this box for the fake one while I distract the audience with another trick.” Cosima showed the diagram to Scott in her notebook. Scott took notes while Cosima explained how they were going to perform the act.

“Guten tag, Cosima!” Katja entered through the workshop door wearing her sunshades, as usual.  
“Katja!” Cosima turned to look at her ex-lover. She blinked in surprise.  
“You look really well Katja, I mean, definitely more full of life,” Cosima said.  
“Ja, the doctor did it. She developed a treatment and right now she is trying to find a permanent one.” Katja saw the briefly sad expression flash across her face, so she opted for not saying anything more of the French.  
“Anyway I came here to invite you for lunch, if you are not too busy?”  
“Oh, no, no, not busy, sure, why not!” Cosima said. Sarah appeared from behind her twin.  
“Can we talk, Cos?” she said as she pulled her sister by the sleeve away from Katja.  
“Dude, don’t tell me that you like Katja as well!” Cosima teased her twin.  
“Shit, you’re never going to forgive me, are you? And no, I really dislike the German.”  
“Sarah, don’t be an idiot. I don’t care because she would never have laid eyes on you.” Cosima grinned.  
“Shit, you’re a real bitch when you want to be, Cos.” Sarah rolled her eyes but she smiled too.  
“In all seriousness, it’s okay, Sarah. You did nothing wrong, I just want you to be more honest with yourself and actually let people care for you.” Cosima patted her twin on the shoulder.  
“Anyways, be careful with Katja. I don’t want you to keep in this never-ending cycle of European heartbreak!” Sarah made Cosima laugh quite a bit, which was excellent. These days, Cosima wasn’t laughing much.

Cosima was having lunch with Katja. The physical change in the German was really impressive; she was more alive than ever, the coughs were almost a thing of the past, so why couldn’t she give it chance with her?  
“So, you’re almost cured. I’m just... really glad for your sake, Katja.” Cosima took a sip of her wine.  
“Danke, for not turning your back to me, Cosima. You stood by my side and helped me to fight this thing.” Katja took her hand and squeezed it gently.  
They chatted for a while, sharing their ideas, and enjoying the company of the other. It felt good, but that spark was missing. Simply put, the magic was gone. Cosima wanted to feel it so badly; she denied the possibility that without Delphine she was not going to be happy. When they finished and walked back to Katja’s hotel, Cosima had the brilliant idea to test it.  
“You’re going back to Germany tomorrow, right?” Cosima asked, more out of courtesy than interest.  
“Ja, so this is it, my dear friend.”  
At that, Cosima cradled Katja’s face and kissed her. It was seriously awkward. Why was she standing on her toes? There was no need, Katja wasn’t even tall. Cosima broke the kiss immediately.  
“I’m so sorry!” Her hands moved through the air trying to express her discomfort. As she began to grow more and more awkward, her hands began to move accordingly.  
“I didn’t mean to be this disrespectful Katja, so sorry!”  
“Sorry because you didn’t like it, or because I’m not the doctor?” Katja said bluntly.  
“Well shit.” Cosima lowered her head, feeling ashamed for her irrational actions.  
“Funny thing that she’s acting pretty much like you are right now,” Katja said.  
“What? She kissed you too?!” Cosima said it more roughly than intended.  
Katja laughed. “Of course not, but your doctor keeps playing with a coin that she has in a bracelet, she keeps staring at it and she makes this face, it’s like ah…”  
“Like a puppy.” Cosima smiled just at the thought of Delphine’s adorable face.  
“Ja, genau. It seems that you two can’t be that far away, you’re always thinking of each other. Trust me, that French is as sad as you are my dear, don’t be an idiot. I have to go now, you take care.” Katja hugged Cosima before entering her hotel.

Cosima stood there thinking what to do. Lost in thought, she reached into her pocket and took out her bracelet, the one with the dolphins. She smiled as all the things that came to mind were nice memories, not the bad ones, and that was what mattered. Now she knew that Delphine was magic to her, and in order to get her back, she had to perform the act of her life.  
______________  
“Yes, I have everything ready! Could you please stop bitching about it Rachel?!” Sarah yelled, extremely annoyed. The last weeks had been crazy, and after so much preparation, they were finally ready for the Edinburgh festival.  
“Then stop messing around with the props and give them to me. Cosima is relying on you too!” Rachel was pissed as well.  
“Shite, what did I do? Why have you been so fucking cold towards me? I don’t get it!” Sarah snapped in frustration.  
“That’s the problem, you’re even more blind than your twin, and she wears fucking glasses! I’m done with you Sarah, I quit.” She turned on her heel and started to storm away.  
“Wait, you can’t just leave like that, Rachel!” Sarah walked quickly after her, trying to keep up. Rachel stopped abruptly and turned around to face the punk.  
“I am not going to leave my work halfway through. Once we do this, I’m out. I’m going back to London, we’re pretty close to home, so why not?” She kept walking away, but Sarah grabbed her by the arm before she could keep moving.  
“You can’t leave us Rachel! Don’t leave me!” Sarah looked directly into her eyes, making sure that Rachel understood that she meant it this time.  
“And what’s the point? I am done being your rebound sex buddy. I am tired of being your spare tire! I can’t keep sharing you with Paul, or the French, or whoever! I want you for me, Sarah but you don’t seem to notice! I am fed up of being invisible to you!”  
“You’re right, I am a bloody idiot. But I can’t let you go. You have been part of my life ever since we met in that alley in London, so yes, I am a selfish bastard but I can’t let you go. I won’t.” Sarah was desperate now. What was she going to do without her confident and friend?  
“Move in with me.” Sarah blurted. The words came out of her mouth, and she was really just saying what was on her mind. Oh shite.  
“What? Sarah, this is not a game. You say that to me, and I will be thinking about banging you all the time,” Rachel said, matter of factly.  
“Please do, and I’m not joking, you should move in with me, Rachel,” Sarah said in a gentle voice.  
Rachel pulled Sarah by the collar of her jacket and kissed her, softly, afraid to scare her with the intimate contact. They liked it wild and rough, but now it was all about caring for each other. Sarah broke the contact and stared into the blonde’s eyes.  
“You have the look, shit.”  
“The look?” Rachel wondered.

“Don’t mind me, and please keep that “shagging all the time” spirit. I might hold you to your word when we get back to San Francisco.” Sarah laced her fingers with Rachel’s, and together they both walked back to the showroom, where they were to prepare for the show.  
_____________  
Delphine had spent the last month working on the cure. She was more than happy that the treatment worked, and it was really exciting for her to be able to publish her outstanding research in not one, but two magazines.

She focused on her research and the routine was comforting, but when she was alone in her Parisian apartment, she thought of her. She knew every bit of info available on her magician, and she knew everything about her career, thanks to the information provided by her cousin Antoine. He had told her all about her upcoming show and the tour she was going to have in different cities. She was very happy for Cosima, and she really wished she could find someone who could love her as much Cosima she did, someone who was brave enough to defend her and be truthful, not like she did. The only thing she was ever going to regret was betraying her trust.

Delphine went to her living room; she knew that the Edinburgh International Magic Festival was going to be on in the TV soon, and thanks to Antoine, she knew that Cosima was going to be performing there. At least she could watch her do her magic from a somewhat magic glowing box, which was amazing. She took her glass of wine, sat down on her couch, picked up the remote and turned the TV on, and she surfed the channels until she found one that was airing the Edinburgh Festival.

Many illusionists from around the world gave their presentations. It only took a single trick was to impress, yet all of them lacked Cosima’s charm. Finally, it was her turn.  
“And now from United States, the winner of Las Vegas Magic showdown, Cosima Niehaus!” The crowd applauded. And the stage was all filled with smoke, the light was dim, on cue with the music she appeared wearing a red cape sweater, her dreads moving freely around her head.

Two magic boxes appeared on stage and Cosima walked to centerstage to explain her trick.  
“Hello! Tonight, I am going to perform an illusion that may not be visually extraordinary, but it might leave you scratching your heads in wonder. I called this my teleport machine. In order to show how it works, my assistant is going to put a couple of objects into the teleportation chamber so you can see how it works, and of course, a volunteer from the audience might be great.” The crowd cheered.  
Delphine was frowning. Cosima was weird tonight. There was something off with her, and she wasn’t sure if it was the TV or what, but that girl was not her magician. She assumed it was just something strange, so instead of thinking too hard about it, she filled her glass with more wine and enjoyed the show.  
In the box on the left, Scott placed an apple. After some light changes, Cosima made some movements and shifted to the box on the right. They opened it at the same time and saw that the apple now was in Cosima’s hands. The audience applauded.  
Next, Scott put a small lamp inside and repeated the process, and a moment later the lamp appeared in Cosima’s box.  
For the last exchange they invited a volunteer. The person entered the box on Scott’s side and, again, after some smoke and light changes onstage, Cosima opened her door to reveal the reappearance of the volunteer.  
The crowd gave them a huge round of applause; the act was really cool, and the people were really having fun with it.  
“For my final act, I am going to be teleported to the place where my heart lays. Thank you so much!” She bowed to the audience. There was one box remaining on stage, and on top of it a screen appeared.  
“On that screen, you’re going to see what I see, so keep your eyes glued to it.”  
Cosima put on a small camera on her head, and the screen displayed her point of view. She climbed into the box and Scott closed the door behind her. Immediately, smoke surrounded the box and the lights dimmed. The screen blackened, and some interference appeared before the screen faded to black once again.

“Woah, dude! That was intense.” Cosima’s voice could be heard, but nothing could be seen. “Scott, please open the box,” Cosima said, and Scott walked over and lifted the door. People gasped and applauded.  
“You want to know where I am? Give me one second, you guys.” The black screen started to show bright lights, and a couple of places that somehow seemed familiar to Delphine.  
“I bet you recognize this!” The camera jostled around and showed the Eiffel Tower, the image was shaky, but then Cosima turned the camera to point at her face.  
“Yep, this is where my heart is. Thank you Edinburgh!” She waved goodbye and the camera was turned off. The show continued on back in Edinburgh.

“What just happened?!” Delphine finished her glass of wine. This was impossible, and Cosima couldn’t be in Paris. She was in Edinburgh. There just was no way. She turned off the TV and went to the bathroom to wash her face. That had to be prerecorded or something, she better go off to sleep, but first clean the dishes, or else the kitchen was going to be a mess.  
She went to the kitchen sink and had started to wash her plates when a knock on the door startled her.  
“Un instant s'il vous plait!” Delphine dried her hands on a towel and went to open the door.  
She walked to the entrance and when she opened the door, she almost had a heart attack.  
“Hey Delphine, you seem like you just saw a ghost. You okay?”  
“Co-Cosima!!?” Delphine was so shocked. Her eyes went wide, unbelieving of the fact that Cosima was standing before her, brought by magic.  
“Yeah, it’s me.” She gave that smile of hers that would send Delphine to heaven.  
“Come in, sit, please!” Delphine guided Cosima to the living room.  
“Damn, it’s really tidy, totally unlike my room.” she joked.  
“But, how? I just saw you on live TV!” Delphine still was confused by this entire situation.  
“Sarah did everything. I was never in Edinburgh. This entire time it was her who practiced the trick in order to pull this off. She learned more or less to imitate me and well, here I am.”  
“I see. So I wasn’t imagining things, she was off you know, a little bit hunched, and her hand movement was stiff.” At that Cosima burst in laughter.  
“She did her best you know! She was able to fool all those people, but you know me best, I suppose.” Cosima flushed a bit.  
“You helped Katja, you saved her. Thank you.” Cosima said honestly.  
“I gave you my word that I was going to do my best. I already did a lot of damage to you, the least I could do was help her. I’m sorry Cosima, for everything.” Delphine had to take this chance to apologize. The tension between them was so fragile. One wrong step and she would be gone forever.

“I never meant to hurt you the way I did. Falling in love wasn’t part of the plan, but it happened, and for that I am ever grateful. You showed me that magic does indeed exist.” Delphine was so desperate to reach for her, to touch her again, but she kept her hands on her lap. She couldn’t risk it. To gain the trust of this girl was going to take a while.  
“What I told to the audience was true, you know. I went to where my heart was, and you’re my heart, Delphine. All this time I tried to bury our memories together as deep as I could, but they wouldn’t disappear. Everywhere I would look, you would be there; at the beach, at the ice cream shop, you became my world.” Cosima’s eyes were teary, her voice so soft that it could crack at any second.  
“Chérie, I can’t say anything else to you. I tried to show you my regret, and know that it killed me putting you in danger. I don’t deserve you, but only God knows how much I want you, and I want you to trust me again, because I...I love you.”  
Cosima looked into her eyes fearing a lie, but she couldn’t see it. Delphine had said the truth, or she was really the biggest fool of all.  
“I want to trust you, I do.” Cosima took her notebook out of her bag and handed it to Delphine. Cosima kept her eyes fixed on Delphine. Delphine knew this was the only opportunity she was going to get, it was now or never, so she extended her hand and took the notebook. She smiled at her magician.  
“Je t'aime, ma chérie.” Delphine hugged her, Cosima returned the embrace. It was so perfect the way the magician fit between her arms; her smell, her softness, her warmth, was all simply magical. Cosima kissed her softly, their lips melting into one another and it felt right. Everything was now in place.  
A new chance was given; fate smiled at the girl with the charm and magic who turned the world of unknowing female scientist upside down. Magic is simply an illusion, but it can change your perspective of things; nothing is impossible with magic. You just need to believe in it, just like love.

Thank you for listening, my friend. I am more than happy to have shared the story of a woman who I have the honor to call Mother. Yes, I have just told you the story of how my mothers met, pretty crazy huh? If you come back one day, I’ll tell you how my aunt Rachel and her daughter Kira were saved by Auntie Sarah from that batshit crazy Helena girl.  
But, as you already know…  
That, is a story for another day.


End file.
